Smithfield, R.I. (October 24) -- The Saint Anselm field hockey season rolls on as the Hawks defeated No. 3 seeded Bryant University by a 3-1 final on Wednesday night to advance to the Northeast-10 Tournament semifinals for the first time ever. This is the second time in the last eight days that the Hawks have defeated the Bulldogs, who are currently ranked No. 9 in the nation.

The Hawks got off to a quick start when Laura Urko (Attleboro, Mass.) scored off a penalty corner at the 13:07 mark for the 1-0 lead. Just 1:31 later, junior co-captain Sam Rowe (Chelmsford, Mass.) scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season to give the visitors a 2-0 edge. Assisting on the goal was freshman Annie Heaney (East Kingston, N.H.). Bryant answered back at the 28:50 mark on the fifth goal of the season by Shana Libman and the lead was 2-1 Saint Anselm. The Hawks weren't done though in a high-scoring first half as Karrie Muma (N. Falmouth, Maine) found the back of the net off a penalty corner for the game's final score.

Bryant outshot Saint Anselm by an 11-3 margin in the second half, but the Bulldogs were unable to get a shot past Saint Anselm sophomore goalie Riley Haddock (Falmouth, Maine), who turned aside 11 shots in the win. For Bryant, Kundayi Mawema made six saves in the season-ending loss for the Bulldogs that also marks the team's final game as a Division II program. Bryant is moving up to Division I beginning next fall.

The Hawks, now 9-9 overall, advance to the Northeast-10 Final Four and will face second-seeded Bentley on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. That game, along with Sunday's championship game, will be played at the UMass Lowell campus.