FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NO. 2 LASELL 2, NO. 3 SIMMONS 0
NEWTON, Mass. – Sophomore goalie Sofia Rodriguez (Peabody, Mass.) made eight saves for her third shutout of the season Wednesday afternoon as second-seeded Lasell University blanked third-seeded Simmons University, 2-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) field hockey semifinal game at Grellier Field.
With the victory, Lasell improves to 10-9 overall and advances to its third consecutive GNAC Championship game, which will be play this Saturday, November 9. The Lasers will travel to top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (Maine), which defeated fifth-seeded Regis College, 5-0, in Wednesday's other semifinal. The Sharks wrap up their season with an 8-12 overall record.
Lasell scored both of its goals just a minute apart early in the second quarter. The first goal, and eventual game-winner, came on a transition play a minute into the quarter as senior Sam Taylor (Hanover, Mass.) dribbled through some Simmons defenders and passed the ball from outside the circle to junior Megan Horrigan (Wakefield, Mass.) just in front of the goal, and Horrigan shot the ball just inside the left post for her fifth goal of the season.
The Lasers doubled the lead a minute later following a penalty corner when senior Brooke Landry (New Milford, Conn.) fired a shot from the left side and freshman Mya Maxim (South China, Maine) redirected the shot near the right goal post for her seventh goal of the season. Lasell recorded the only three shots of the second quarter and held a 6-4 shot advantage at halftime.
The home team outshot the visitors 11-6 in a scoreless second half. Lasell nearly extended its lead late in the fourth quarter but was denied on a defensive save by junior Abby Anderson (South Yarmouth, Mass.)
Lasell finished with a 17-10 margin in shots, while Simmons had a 6-5 edge in penalty corners. Junior goalie Lucy McNamara (Brewster, Mass.) made 11 saves in a strong effort for the Sharks.
Against Saturday's championship game opponent, the Lasers lost to Saint Joseph's (Maine) at home on October 19, 3-0. Lasell has been defeated by St. Joe's in the last two GNAC title games, 3-0 in 2017 and 4-0 a year ago.
Courtesy of Lasell Athletics Communications.
NO. 1 SJC 5, NO. 6 REGIS 0
STANDISH, Maine – R
STANDISH, Maine – Junior Alexandra Belaire (Greene, Maine) tallied two goals and two assists to help #1 Saint Joseph's College (17-3) topple #5 Regis College (9-10), 5-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) field hockey tournament semifinal at the SJC Athletics Complex on Wednesday night.
With the win, Saint Joseph's - the three-time defending GNAC Champions – advances to the conference championship for the fifth-consecutive season and will host #2 Lasell College in the GNAC title matchup on Saturday at 1:00 PM. The Lasers blanked #3 Simmons University, 2-0, in the other semifinal contest this afternoon to set up the third-consecutive GNAC Championship meeting between Saint Joseph's and Lasell.
For Regis, the loss brings an end to the 2019 campaign.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph's applied most of the offensive pressure early and broke the scoring seal at the 10:48 mark, when Belaire netted her first goal of the night on a penalty stroke attempt.
The 1-0 edge remained until the 35th minute, when SJC sophomore Logan Champlin (Alfred, Maine) potted her first goal of the season off a Belaire pass penalty corner bid.
The hosts made it a 3-0 game just over a minute later with another penalty corner strike, as freshman Alexa Gutowski (Conway, N.H.) drilled home her sixth marker of the year with Champlin being credited with the assist.
Belaire tacked on her eight goal of the year at the 42:05 mark with an aerial shot to the top right corner on another penalty corner attempt. Freshman Megan Quirion (Oakland, Maine) was credited with an assist on the play.
Senior defender Kylee Veilleux (Sabattus, Maine) capped the game scoring in the 50th minute with her first collegiate goal - on yet another penalty corner try - with Belaire earning the assist on the play.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC junior Alexandria Simpson (Pascoag, R.I.) was not forced to make a save in the shutout victory while Regis junior netminder Hope Winkin (Winslow, Maine) made five saves in a losing effort.
TEAM STATS:
Saint joseph's held sizeable leads in shots (19-3), shots on goal (11-0), and penalty corners (15-5) in the triumph.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 8-4 all-time versus Regis College and has now defeated the Pride in six-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2007 season.
Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications.
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
– #TheGNAC –