By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

NORTH SMITHFIELD – Considering it was playing the defending Division I champions, North Smithfield gave Bay View quite a battle for two period of Saturday’s non-league contest.
But in just under a minute of the final period, the Bengals put a close to any sort of upset by the determined Northmen.
Bay View (2-0) scored twice in the first 56 seconds, providing a comfortable cushion in an eventual 5-1 victory at the Rhode Island Sports Center. Brittany Resendes scored twice and also had an assist to lead the Bengals.
“I told them in the third period whoever gets the goal first is going to break the back of the other team,” said NS head coach Bill Nangle. “I thought we had the momentum coming into the third period and they quickly took it from us.”
North Smithfield, which captured the Division II title last year, trailed 3-1 after the first two periods. The Bengals scored their first three goals, courtesy of little luck mixed in with their skill. Resendes put her teammates on the board at 10:32 when she was able to take advantage of a minor pig pile near the net and flipped a shot to the left corner. Just over a minute later, the Bengals’ Elyse Connolly doubled the lead, scoring from just outside the crease among another scuffle in front of the cage.
At the 6:07 mark of the second period, Bay View’s Catie Colucci scored the third goal, unleashing a slap shot about six feet in front of the blue line. Her shot took an awkward bounce that went over the shoulder of NS goalie Mikayla Bliss to give Bay View a 3-0 lead.
“When you put things on net, anything can happen,” Nangle said. “They’re such a good team at putting things on net. None of them were what I call high-quality goals. But if you put it on net and there’s a little confusion, something’s going to happen…I think our goalie played very, very well. They just got three good opportunities and they finished it. We didn’t have enough opportunities.”
North Smithfield’s lone goal came on a heads-up play by Vanessa D’Andrea, who scored with less than five minutes remaining in the period to cut the deficit to 3-1. D’Andrea tripped while trying to overcome a crowded box and uncorked a shot off a rebound from teammate Christine Biron from inside the crease.
The talented junior is among a handful of players that Nangle is counting this season as the Northmen try to defend their crown.
“It was a pretty goal,” said the NS coach. “Vanessa D’Andrea is one of the hardest working players on this team. She fell down, she was in the crease and she never took her eyes off the puck.  She did whatever she had to do…That was a gutsy goal.”
After an evenly-matched middle period with their D-I opponent, Bay View took the guesswork out of the outcome with Resendes and Caroline Baruch netting quick goals in the final period.
After a two-week break, North Smithfield (2-2) returns to the ice on Jan. 3 when it takes on La Salle at the RI Sports Center. Nangle is impressed by what he sees so far.
“We’re a young team,” he said. “We have a couple of freshmen on the first line. We’re moving a lot of players right now. We’re trying to do some different things with the lines. We’re really trying to have two balanced lines and the third line is going to be our work-hard line. We look good. We look really good.”
***
Bay View 2 1 2 – 5
North Smithfield 0 1 0 – 1
First period – 1. BV, Brittany Resendes (Katherine Connolly, Jane Baruch) 10:32; 2. BV, Elyse Connolly (Resendes) 11:36.
Second period – 3. BV, Catie Colucci (Resendes) 6:07; 4. NS, Vanessa D’Andrea (Christine Biron) 10:18.
Penalties – BV, 1-1:30.
Third period – 5. BV, Resendes (Kiley Colucci) :33; 6. BV, Caroline Baruch (E. Connolly, Samantha Gouin) :56.
Penalties – BV, 1-1:30.
Saves – BV, Anastasia Procaccini  17. NS, Mikayla Bliss 27. Shots – BV 32. NS 18.