FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Top-seeded Emmanuel College survived a scare from fourth-seeded Johnson & Wales University, 10-8, in the GNAC Men's Lacrosse Tournament Semifinals on Friday evening, while second-seeded Lasell College handled third-seeded Norwich University, 16-9. Emmanuel will now get set to host Lasell for the conference championship on Sunday afternoon (12:00 PM) at Roberto Clemente Field.
#2 LASELL 16, #3 NORWICH 9
NEWTON, Mass. – The Lasell College men's lacrosse team secured a spot in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship for the second time in program history after defeating the Cadets of Norwich University, 16-9, on Friday afternoon at Grellier Field.
The Lasers improve to 12-4 overall while the Cadets see their season come to an end at 9-9. The Lasers will play the winner of tonight's semifinal game between Emmanuel and Johnson and Wales. Live stats can be followed for that game at 7:00 p.m., here.
Junior Josh Gallant (Hampstead, N.H.) highlighted the victory with his 100th career point on four goals and one helper, while freshman Ryan Madden (Hingham, Mass.) unleashed on the field for six goals and two assists. Junior Casey Sullivan (Quaker Hill, Conn.) added a trio of assists and a single marker while sophomore Austin Tomasetti (Elmsford, N.Y.) tossed in two goals of his own. Senior Pat Egan (Glen Rock, N.J.) and junior Connor Johnson (Hampstead, N.H.) also connected for a goal in the effort.
For the visitors, senior Ryan McCarthy (Medford, Mass.) capped his career with four goals to total 40 on the year as the Cadets' season-leading scorer. Classmate Matt Flaherty (Portland, Maine) finished with a trio of goals, his second hat trick on the year, while Jimmy Warden (North Andover, Mass.) and freshman Dylan Avery (South Burlington, Vt.) finished with a goal apiece.
The Lasers played a tremendous defensive game, and were led by seniors Joe Bove (Middletown, R.I.), and Mike Pino (Tewksbury, Mass.) freshmanDavid Sheehan (Tewksbury, Mass.) and sophomore Travis Duhamel (Deerfield, N.H.) who combined for 10 of Lasell's 19 caused turnovers. Bove led the resistance with five caused turnovers, while Sheehan caused four with four ground balls.
The Lasers were hot from the first whistle, as Madden and Johnson teamed up with a pair of unassisted blasts for an early 2-0 lead in the third minute. The Cadets fired back with two goals of their own via McCarthy and Flaherty to deadlock the contest 2-2, but would not see another stalemate for the game's remainder.
With a 6-2 lead heading into the second quarter, the Flaherty/McCarthy duo took the charge to net from the opening faceoff to cut the deficit in half, 6-3, but by the end of the half the Lasers preserved the double advantage on a goal from Sullivan with one second left to go, 10-5.
The third quarter proved to be all Lasell, as Madden converted on a man-up opportunity with 12:33 on the clock before Gallant pushed the lead to 12-15 on a feed from senior Mike Bomberg (Merrimack, N.H.). Penalty troubled from the Lasers caused a Cadet threat in the fourth, but the defensive line bled the clock on each infraction with Gallant and Tomasetti scoring two more goals of insurance as well. With 1:02 left to play, McCarthy netted a man-up goal 16 seconds into the opportunity, but a final caused turnover by Pino denied the Cadets to come any closer, as the Lasers held on for the 16-9 win.
Senior Chris Ikier (Burlington, Mass.) backstopped the Lasers on a career-high 17 saves and improves to 3-1 this season, while freshman Ian Kriger (Burlington, Mass.) finishes at 9-9 with 11 saves on the day.
Courtesy of Lasell Athletics Communications
#1 EMMANUEL 10, #4 JWU 8
BOSTON, Mass. - The top-seeded Emmanuel College men's lacrosse team fought off an incredible effort by the fourth-seeded Johnson & Wales Wildcats to earn a 10-8 victory in Thursday's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Semifinal matchup. With the win, the Saints advance to the program's third-consecutive GNAC Championship game on Sunday at noon at Clemente Field.
The Wildcats came into Boston with intentions on hitting Emmanuel hard from the start, and did just that, scoring two goals in the opening 1:20 when freshman Ben Farrell (Downington, Pa.) and senior Julian Bandereck (Topsfield, Mass.) found the back of the net.
Senior Michael Donovan (Assonet, Mass.) and fershman Matt Katon (East Falmouth, Mass.) scored for the home team to pull things back to a 2-2 draw, but Bandereck answered 22 seconds later with his second of the game to give JWU a 3-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Sophomore Eric Russo (West Grove, Pa.) and freshman Erik Lindaas (Milford, Pa.) opened the second quarter with goals at 14:09 and 12:53 to extend the visitors' lead to 5-2. After ten scoreless minutes, EC's all-time leading goal scorer, senior Chris Curtis (Ashland, Mass.) pulled the Saints within two, scoring with 2:19 left. Forty seconds later, senior Justin Kelly (Collegeville, Pa.) capitalized on a man-up opportunity and sent the teams into the break locked in a one-goal game.
The teams erupted for two goals each in a span of 2:30 to begin the third quarter, keeping with the back-and-forth nature of the contest.
Sophomore Charlie Moran (Maitland, Fla.) evened things up with a laser 2:15 into the second half, but the Wildcats threw another punch as Farrell and sophomore Max Stone (Burlington, Conn.) scored back-to-back goals to reopen a 7-5 lead. Only six seconds later, Curtis set up junior Tony Cibelli (Westboro, Mass.) for his first goal of the game, lessening the deficit to one.
The fourth quarter belonged to the two-time defending champions, as Emmanuel goals from Katon, Cibelli, and Moran turned the game on its head. The Saints took a 9-7 advantage with 4:53 remaining in regulation.
Sophomore Sam Sears (Baltimore, Md.) scored for the Wildcats with 3:16 to play, cutting the EC lead to one, but Donovan responded a minute later and the Saints held off a last JWU charge to earn the semifinal win.
Farrell and Bandereck both picked up a pair of goals for the Wildcats, while Stone, Russo, Lindaas, and Sears each had one. Stone also added an assist to his lone goal.
Cibelli led the way for Emmanuel, tallying two goals and two assists. Donovan, Moran, and Katon all picked up a pair of goals, while Curtis scored and assisted once, and senior Michael Rainha (Attleboro, Mass.) earned an assist as well.
In goal, sophomore Austin Rosenberg (Ronkokoma, N.Y.) improved to 9-3 on the year with a nine-save effort. Sophomore JC Guido (Miller Place, N.Y.) saw his season come to an end at with a 9-9 record after making nine saves in the loss.
Courtesy of Emmanuel Athletics Communications
First Round - Wednesday, May 4
Game 1: #4 Johnson & Wales 14, #5 Mount Ida 9 | BOX
Game 2: #3 Norwich 19, #6 Rivier 11 | BOX
Semifinals - Friday, May 6
Game 3: #1 Emmanuel 10, #4 Johnson & Wales 8 | BOX
Game 4: #2 Lasell 16, #3 Norwich 9 | BOX
Championship - Sunday, May 8
Game 5: #2 Lasell at #1 Emmanuel - 12:00 PM