Bryant University notched five unanswered goals in the final 8:24 of play Sunday afternoon in Hamden, Conn., never looking back and taking the matchup against Quinnipiac, 8-6. Two of those goals came off the stick of Lauren Sheridan, who recorded a hat trick on the afternoon.

“Bryant came out with a lot of intensity and went up on us early, and we couldn’t dig ourselves out of the hole,” Quinnipiac head coach Danie Caro said. “I give Bryant a lot of credit; they’re a very good team. We battled hard to come back and we created opportunities, but we didn’t capitalize on them.”

Quinnipiac starting goalie Noelle Martello was pulled after the five scores, in favor of backup Samantha Titlts. Martello did not record a save during the start.

The Bobcats did not register their first goal until 15:23, when Kyra Ochwat hit the back of the net on an assist by Gibney. After an additional Knights goal, Quinnipiac scored three unanswered off the sticks of Caroleo and Gibney to close the deficit to two with 3:10 remaining in the first half. Bryant later tacked on another goal to bring the score to 7-4 after 30 minutes of play.

Coming into the second half, Quinnipiac once again pulled within two scores at 4:01 when Lianne Toomey hit the twine. Yet, Bryant widened the lead once again 7:52 later to make the score 8-5. Despite another Bobcat goal with 12:02 remaining in regulation, the Knights walked away with the win, 8-6.

In relief of Martello, Tilts made saves on 7-of-10 shots in 51:36 of play.

“I thought Samantha Tilts did a great job getting our defense going and they played very well over the last 45 minutes of the game,” Caro said. “But our offense struggled today.”

Quinnipiac will play as the No. 2 seed in the Northeast Conference tournament against No. 3 Monmouth University on Friday at Sacred Heart. The tournament will be held at No. 1 Sacred Heart because Sacred Heart won the regular season title by defeating Central Connecticut 10-9 today.