FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For the second time in the three years since the Great Northeast Athletic Conference has sponsored field hockey, Saint Joseph's College of Maine and Simmons College will meet for the GNAC Championship. The top-seeded Monks defeated fourth-seeded Lasell College, 3-1, on Wednesday in the GNAC Semifinals, while Simmons took down third-seeded Johnson & Wales University, 3-0.
#1 SAINT JOSEPH'S 3, #4 LASELL 1
PORTLAND, Maine – Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (12-6, 5-1 GNAC) defeated #4 Lasell College (12-7, 2-4 GNAC), 3-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Field Hockey Tournament Semifinal at Deering Memorial Stadium on Wednesday evening.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the GNAC Championship and will face #2 Simmons College, which topped #3 Johnson & Wales University by a 3-0 score in other semifinal action tonight, in the conference title bout for the second-consecutive season. Last fall, the Sharks edged Saint Joseph's by a 1-0 margin in the championship to earn the GNAC title – and automatic NCAA DIII Tournament berth – for the second in as many seasons.
The 2016 GNAC Championship will be played at Deering Memorial Stadium at 3:00 PM on Saturday.
For Lasell, the hard fought loss signals the end of the 2016 campaign save for a berth into the ECAC New England Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saint Joseph's scored twice in the opening 20 minutes, both off penalty corners, as junior Elyse Caiazzo (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) slammed home a pass from Maddy Beaulieu (West Gardiner, Maine) at the 13:24 mark and freshman Libby Pomerleau (Limerick, Maine) netted her 14th goal of the season less than seven minutes later – off another Beaulieu feed – to lift her team to a 2-0 cushion.
The Monks seemed to have all the momentum, but the tide turned quickly as sophomore forwardCailin Flannery (Medford, N.J.) boomed a shot, from the top of the circle, off the lower third panel to cut her team's deficit in half at the 25:15 mark. St. Joe's sophomore keeper Megan Baker(Gorham, Maine) did not seem to see the shot, which ricocheted off the panel all the way to near midfield.
Lasell kept applying the pressure for the remainder of the half and tonight's outcome could very well have played out differently if not for a pair of defensive saves from sophomore defenderKayla Veilleux (Sabattus, Maine) in the closing seven minutes of the opening frame.
Looking for a spark early in the second stanza, the Monks received just that as junior Hayley Winslow (Falmouth, Maine) scored on a corner off a Pomerleau pass just 1:44 into the latter period.
Saint Joseph's managed to control play for the better part of the second half, although a late push from Lasell nearly paid off, as sophomore defenderMeghan Burke (Falmouth, Mass.) picked up a defensive save at the 66:38 mark and Baker made an acrobatic save on a Samantha Taylor (Hanover, Mass.) shot with 1:57 remaining.
TEAM STATS
Saint Joseph's maintained advantages in shots (19-7), shots on goal (15-6), and penalty corners (11-8) in the semifinal triumph.
THE KEEPERS
Baker was rarely tested in the victory as the second-year starter made a pair of saves to pick up her 11th win of the season. Lasell junior netminderDenise Landry (New Milford, Conn.) was outstanding in goal for the visitors with 12 saves, including perhaps a handful of highlight-reel quality stops, in the losing effort.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 16-3 in the history of the series with Lasell College, a team the Monks defeated by a 2-1 score, in overtime, at Mercy Field earlier this fall.
Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications.
#2 SIMMONS 3, #3 JWU 0
BOSTON, Mass. – Junior forward Julie Saltamartini (East Hampstead, N.H.)scored a goal and added an assist to lead the second-seeded Simmons College field hockey team over visting number three seed Johnson & Wales University, 3-0, this evening in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament Semifinals at Daly Field in Brighton, Mass. The Sharks improve to 11-7 on the season, while the Wildcats fall to 7-12.
Simmons advances to the GNAC Championship match for the third straight year and will travel to take on top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (Maine), which defeated number four seed Lasell College, 3-1. The contest will be played in Standish, Maine on Saturday, November 5.
The home team outshot JWU, 10-2, and owned a 5-0 advantage on penalty corners.
The Sharks wasted no time getting on the board as Saltamartini fired a shot diagonally from the left post that resulted in her 20th goal of the season just 15 seconds into the contest. The marker ties the Simmons school record for goals in a season set by Tanya Rego in 2005 and also marks the fastest goal to start a GNAC playoff match.
Simmons increased its lead to 2-0 just over six minutes into the contest when Saltamartini flipped a backhanded cross to a waiting Jenna Gagnon (Waterville, Maine), who settled the pass and deposited the ball inside the left post for her third goal of the season and fifth career playoff score.
The Sharks' defense held Johnson & Wales without a shot in the opening half, while the offense attempted six of its own.
Simmons added an insurance goal with 15:27 left to play in the match off a penalty corner. Sophomore midfielder Meghan Fontaine (Westminster, Mass.) took the insert pass and fired a shot from just inside the left side of the circle to the far post, where junior forward Sammy Rondeau (Franklin, Mass.) redirected the blast into the back of the cage. The marker was the ninth of the year and gave the Sharks a 3-0 lead.
Junior forward Giovanna Ciavardoni (Latham, N.Y.) and sophonmore forward Adriana Scala (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) each attempted a shot to lead the Wildcats' offensive effort.
Senior goalie Brianna Rastello (Salem, N.H.) was untested for the night to record her 16th career shutout and third straight GNAC Tournament shutout, dating back to last year's tourney. Sophomore Claire Nolan (West Bridgewater, Mass.) stopped three shots for Johnson & Wales.
Courtesy of Simmons Athletics Communications.