FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sixth-seeded Norwich University went on the road to upset third-seeded Johnson & Wales University, 7-6, in the 2015 GNAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament First Round on Tuesday, while fourth-seedd Lasell College took care of business against fifth-seeded Rivier University, 21-8.
Both teams move on to Thursday's semifinals, as Lasell will travel to top-seeded and GNAC regular-season champion Emmanuel College for a 7:00 p.m. contest, and Norwich readies for a matchup with second-seeded Mount Ida College at 3:30 p.m.
#4 LASELL 21, #5 RIIVER 8
NEWTON, Mass. - With Tuesday's victory, the Lasers move to 9-6 overall, while the Raiders close out their 2015 campaign at 12-5.
Nine Lasers found the back of the cage in the victory, highlighted by junior Casey Sullivan (Quaker Hill, Conn.), who recorded his third straight hat trick with a game-high five goals and three assists. Junior Pat Egan (Glen Rock, N.J.) and senior Dylan Fernandes (Billerica, Mass.) each chipped in with a trio of goals, while seniors Aaron LaPorte (Gorham, Maine) and Robbie Palazzo (Redding, Conn.) and sophomores Anthony Saitta (Derry, N.H.) and Josh Gallant (Hampstead, N.H.) tallied two goals in the win.
Freshman William Ryan (Dorchester, Mass.) led the attack for the Raiders with three goals, while classmate Joe Kellend (Watertown, Mass.) and junior Cody Lynch (Salem, N.H.) contributed with two apiece. Freshman Tyler Tambouris (Hooksett, N.H.) additionally added a single marker for the Raiders in the effort.
The Lasers jumped to an early 3-0 lead before Rivier was able to find the back of the net at 6:49 via a rocket from Lynch. Freshman Brendan Dwyer (Northport, N.Y.) grabbed the ball from the faceoff circle to put the Lasers in scoring position, where senior Jason Donovan (Weymouth, Mass.) found Gallant to give the hosts a 4-1 advantage. Kelland scooped up the ground ball in the Raiders' offensive zone, where he netted the final goal of the quarter to trail Lasell 5-2.
Ryan capitalized on the man-up opportunity early into the half for the Raiders before scoring their fourth goal to cut the deficit to one point, 5-4. Dwyer continued to rule the faceoff circle where Gallant then fired the ball past Rivier's net minder. Palazzo shut out the half with a goal assisted by Sullivan to boost the Lasers up 11-5 heading into the break.
The Lasers scored their 12th point of the game 30 seconds into the second stanza, before Sullivan used the man-up opportunity for the 13-5 lead. Sullivan repeated the offensive surge with 21 seconds left, putting the score at 18-7 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
Both teams traded goals in the fourth minute of the closing quarter, however, the Lasers held Rivier at eight, to close the game at 21-8.
Junior keeperDavid Walen (Longmeadow, Mass.) collected 13 saves on the day, evening his record to 6-6 overall. Junior Clark Plummer (Londonderry, N.H.) suffered the loss (12-5) in between the pipes for the Raiders, stopping 16 of 37 shots faced on net.
The Lasers controlled the faceoff circle 17-14 - highlighted by a 16-26 performance from Dwyer - while also dominating the Raiders in groundballs 44-27.
#6 NORWICH 7, #3 JOHNSON & WALES 6
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Norwich senior attackman Seth Fuller (Wheaton, Ill.) scored the go-ahead goal with just two seconds remaining on Tuesday night at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex, as the Cadets advance onto the semifinal round. Johnson & Wales ends the season 7-8 overall and 5-3 in league play.
JWU struck first at the 10:54 mark of the first period from Brett Leighton (Scarborough, Maine) with Eric Russo (West Grove, Pa.) picking up the assist. The Cadets scored less than three minutes later from Josh Jenkins (Centennial, Colo.) to knot it at one. The Wildcats struck with back-to-back goals from Max Stone (Burlington, Conn.) and Damian Bandereck (Topsfield, Mass.) with Russo collecting two assists on the play.
Trailing 3-1, Norwich cut the deficit to one when Ryan McCarthy (Medford, Mass.) grabbed the pass from Matt Flaherty (Portland, Maine) and chipped it right into the back of the net for the 3-2 score at the half.
Both teams traded goals to open the second half with Sam Sears (Baltimore, Md.) scoring for JWU and Victor Bill (Nazareth, Pa.) for the Cadets. Late in the third period, the Wildcats took advantage of the extra-man opportunity as Brian Hillenbrand (Portsmouth, R.I.) extended the lead to 5-3 after three periods of play.
Heading into the fourth period, the Cadets refused to prevail as Fuller netted his first goal at the 12:10 mark to start the comeback. After a back-and-forth battle for possession, Norwich would grab ahold of the ball and find the net once again, this time from Jenkins to tie it up at five goals apiece, before Ian Kennedy (Gloucester, Mass.) scored unassisted to give the Cadets their first lead of the game, 6-5, with 3:59 remaining in the game.
JWU countered less than two minutes later from Russo to make it 6-6 before the Cadets fought hard to retain possession as Fuller picked up a loose ball in the top left corner of the box and pulled the trigger that landed into the back of the net for the game-winning goal and the 7-6 lead with two seconds on the clock.
Norwich's senior goalkeeper Ryan Fecteau (Danvers, Mass.) finished with eight saves in the win. JWU's JC Guido (Miller Place, N.Y.) turned away nine shots in between the pipes for the Wildcats.
Face-off specialist Andrew Bracy (Carthage, N.Y.), who leads the nation in face-off winning percentages, won 13 of the 15 attempts as Norwich would also win the ground ball battle, 38-32, and outshoot the Wildcats, 31-26.
Game recaps Courtesy of Norwich, Lasell Athletics Communications.
First Round - Tuesday, April 21
Game 1: #4 Lasell 21, #5 Rivier 8 | BOX
Game 2: #6 Norwich 7, #3 Johnson & Wales 6 | BOX
Semifinals - Thursday, April 23
Game 3: #4 Lasell at #1 Emmanuel - 7:00 p.m.
Game 4: #6 Norwich at #2 Mount Ida - 3:30 p.m.
Championship - Saturday, April 25
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner
– #theGNAC –