FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
#2 Lasell 21, #7 Simmons 11
NEWTON, Mass. – Four players scored four or more goals for the second-seeded Lasell College women's lacrosse team, including senior midfielder Taylor Yandow (Moretown, Vt.), who netted four markers to surpass the career 200-goal mark, in a 21-11 victory over seventh-seeded Simmons College Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinal at Grellier Field.
The Lasers improve to 13-3 on the season with their eighth straight victory and advance to host a GNAC semifinal game on Tuesday, May 1 at 3:30 p.m., Lasell will take on number three seed Mount Ida College, a 19-8 winner over sixth-seeded Norwich University. The Sharks close out their season with an 8-9 record.
Lasell owned an emphatic 42-20 shot advantage and recorded its highest goal total in a playoff match since 2013 when it scored 21 times vs. visiting Saint Joseph's (Maine) on April 26 at Grellier Field in the semifinals.
Yandow's milestone goal came with her third tally of the afternoon at the 24:38 mark of the second half to give Lasell a 16-7 advantage on an assist from junior attacker Vanessa Pino (Methuen, Mass.). The helper was the seventh of the match for Pino to equal her own school record set on April 7 against visiting Simmons. Pino also added two goals in the contest to give her a game-high nine points.
Yandow dominated the draw for the home team, winning 15 to contribute to a 23-10 team margin over Simmons. She also added five ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers. Junior middie Jordan McComb (Cumberland, R.I.) led all scorers with five goals on the day for the Lasers and added two assists, while freshman attacker Kellie Matthews (Walpole, Mass.) (4-2-6) and sophomore attacker Sam Taylor (Hanover, Mass.) (4-0-0) each netted four goals.
Lasell wasn't the only team making history. Senior attacker Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) came into the match needing a goal to knot Simmons' single-season record for goals and she found the back of the net three times to give her 58 with the record-breaking score coming with 22:29 to play in the half.
The Lasers looked to have the match well in hand, scoring eight of the game's first nine goals, including three from McComb and two each from Taylor and Matthews to contribute to an 8-1 cushion with 19:26 showing on the first half clock. The lone goal during the stretch for the Sharks was fired by junior midfielder Ana Giarrusso (Hingham, Mass.). Simmons put together a flurry of its own with four unanswered goals, paced by two from first year midfielder Molly Reinhold (Mystic, Conn.), to pull to within 8-5 with nine minutes left in the contest.
Lasell dented the Sharks hopes with five straight goals to close out the period with a 13-5 lead. Yandow and Matthews each netted a pair of goals as the home team took an eight-goal margin into the overtime.
McComb tallied the first goal of the second half, just 43 seconds into the second stanza for the Lasers, before sophomore Kingsley Richards (Lexington, Mass.) and junior Mallory Cottam (Hope, R.I.) each netted a goal for Simmons to make it 14-7. It was as close as the Sharks would get for the rest of the afternoon. The Lasers found the back of the net with six of the game's next seven scoring shots to put the contest out of reach at 20-8, following Yandow's final score of the day with 15:20 to go in the contest.
Simmons netted three of the last four goals of the afternoon, including the final two courtesy of the Sharks' seniors with Fries connecting at 1:40 and classmate Jolene Potter (Readfield, Maine) registering the final tally of her career with 14 ticks left on the clock.
Fries scored three times in the game and finishes her career as the team's all-time leader in points (221) and goals (183). She also added two assists, while Giarrusso notched three goals, won four draws and picked up three ground balls. Reinhold also scored multiple goals with a pair to go with three ground balls and Potter scored her 12th career goal to finish her career.
Sophomore Morgan Choquet (Woonsocket, R.I.) stopped five shots to earn the victory for Lasell, while senior goalie Chyenne Yeager (Indiana, Pa.) turned away 12 shots for Simmons.
Courtesy of Lasell Athletics Communications
#3 Mount Ida 19, #6 Norwich 8
NEWTON, Mass. – Junior Brooke Scahill (Gales Ferry, Conn.) netted seven goals and five assists for 12 points as third-seeded Mount Ida posted a 19-8 victory over sixth-seeded Norwich in quarterfinal round play of the 2018 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Championships Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.
The host Mustangs, who improve to 12-4 on the season, advance to take on second-seeded Lasell in Tuesday's GNAC semifinals at Grellier Field in Auburndale, Mass. at 3:30 p.m., as the Lasers advanced with a 21-11 quarterfinal round home triumph over seventh-seeded Simmons. The visiting Cadets closed out their campaign at 7-8 overall.
Scahill notched a hat trick in the opening 6:23 of play as Mount Ida jumped out to a 4-0 advantage, and after Norwich closed back to 7-3 on sophomore Mary Kait-Mace's (Canton, N.Y.) marker with 17:42 remaining in the half, the Mustangs used five unanswered tallies (including two from Scahill) en route to a 13-5 edge at the break. The hosts built their largest lead of the day by scoring the first five goals after intermission, including a pair off the stick of senior Hayley Napier (Fairhaven, Mass.), for an 18-5 advantage with just over 19 minutes to play, as the Cadets collected three of the last four tallies of the contest to account for the final margin.
Scahill, who earlier this season set the school record with 13-point performance in a win over Wheelock, became the second player in Mount Ida history to surpass the 100-point mark in a season with her effort on Saturday, as she joined junior teammate Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) in that club. Kelly added a hat trick and four assists to become the first Mustang to top the 300 career point plateau, while Napier netted a career-best six tallies in the victory. Sophomore Meghan Sargent (Brattleboro, Vt.) converted a pair of free position markers for the hosts, who received a goal and an assist off the stick of freshman Jordyn Ringuette(Colchester, Conn.) in avenging a 14-11 regular season setback suffered to Norwich on April 17th.
Mace and freshman Emily Schromm (North Attleboro, Mass.) each collected hat tricks in the setback for the Cadets, who received a pair of tallies from senior Meaghan McGrath (Barre, Vt.) along with an assist from sophomore Abriel Roberts (Passumpsic, Vt.). Senior Eleanor Garvey (Elkridge, Md.) earned her 12th win of the season with a 12-save effort in goal for Mount Ida, while sophomore Janice Bolton (Stow, Mass.) made seven first half stops in the setback for Norwich. The Mustangs outshot the Cadets by a 29-24 margin overall (26-20 on goal) and held a 17-12 edge in draw controls for the match.
Mount Ida and Lasell are meeting for the second time in the post-season, the first coming back in 2013 in Auburndale. The Mustangs claimed a 15-10 regular season triumph over the Lasers back on March 31st at Mount Ida's Alumni Field.
Courtesy of Mount Ida Athletics Communications
#1 Johnson & Wales (RI) 21, #8 Rivier 2
PROVIDENCE, RI – The Johnson & Wales University women's lacrosse team emphatically started to its GNAC Tournament championship defense. The Wildcats got out to a fast start and never looked back in their 21-2 victory over Rivier on Saturday.
Records:
Rivier: 3-10
Johnson & Wales: 15-2
Statistical Leaders:
Allison Pazienski (JWU): 6 goals, 2 assists
Maria Patane (JWU): 4 goals, 2 assists
Raquel Pederzani (JWU): 1 goal, 4 assists
Of Note:
Johnson & Wales only allowed Rivier to get a pair of shots in the first half as the hosts jumped out to a 15-0 halftime lead.
Madeline Bishara scored just nine seconds into the game. It's the fifth-fastest goal to start a game in NCAA Division III history.
Nearly half of JWU's goals came from a pair of players. Junior Allison Pazienski tied her career-high with six scores in the opening 20 minutes. Maria Patane also added four goals.
Johnson & Wales controlled the game by winning 19 of 25 draw controls. The Wildcats also had a 48-6 advantage in shots and picked up 38 ground balls compared to 25 by the visitors.
Up Next:
Johnson & Wales hosts Regis (Mass.) in Tuesday's semifinal at 7 p.m.
Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications
#4 Regis (Mass.) 9, #5 Saint Joseph's (Me.) 6
WESTON, Mass. – Sophomore Kerri Anselmo (Natick, Mass.) tallied five goals on Saturday afternoon, leading the Regis (Mass.) women's lacrosse team to a 9-6 win over Saint Joseph's (Me.) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference Quarterfinal at Regis Stadium.
With the win, the Pride improves to 13-4 on the season and advances to the GNAC Semifinals, where they will take on the top-seeded Johnson & Wales Wildcats on Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m. The Monks see their season come to an end with a record of 11-5.
The two teams played a tightly contested opening half, as the teams hit the break all tied up at 3-3. The Monks got on the board first on the afternoon, as senior Elyse Caiazzo (Scarborough, Maine) broke the deadlock with an unassisted goal 6:46 in. Sophomore Madison Beaulieu (West Gardiner, Maine) extended the Monk lead to 2-0 three and a half minutes later, but Anselmo had a quick response for the hosts with 18:47 showing on the clock to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Caiazzo's second of the afternoon extended the Monks edge to 3-1 with just under eight and a half minutes remaining in the period, but Anselmo netted a pair of goals in the final six minutes of the half to even the score headed to the break.
Samantha Medlin (Kingston, Mass.) scored for the Monks to open the second half, but when freshman Rachel Nadeau (Coventry, Conn.) tied the game back up two and half minutes later, Caiazzo had a response to put her team on top 5-4 with 22:47 left. From there, however, it would be all Pride. Junior Malorie Kiehl (Burlington, Mass.) tallied her first goal of the game followed by a pair from Anselmo in a span of just 2:10 to give the Pride its first lead of the day at 7-5.
Caiazzo was able to get one back for Saint Joseph's after Anselmo's fifth goal of the day, but goals from sophomore Bridget Dowling(Hanover, Mass.) and Kiehl in the final 14:14 helped the Pride seal the win.
Senior Maresa Malcolm (Barrington, N.J.) was stellar in net for the Pride in her final game at Regis Field, turning aside 13 shots to lift the Pride to the victory. At the opposite end of the field, sophomore Kaylin Mansir (West Gardiner, Maine) turned aside six shots for the Monks.
Courtesy of Regis (Mass.) Athletics Communications
2018 GNAC WOMEN'S LACROSSE TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinals - Saturday, April 28
Game 1: #2 Lasell 21, #7 Simmons 11 | BOX
Game 2: #3 Mount Ida 19, #6 Norwich 8 | BOX
Game 3: #1 Johnson & Wales (RI) 21, #8 Rivier 2 | BOX
Game 4: #4 Regis (Mass.) 9, #5 Saint Joseph's (Me.) 6 | BOX
Semifinals - Tuesday, May 1
Game 5: #3 Mount Ida at #2 Lasell - 3:30 p.m.
Game 6: #4 Regis (Mass.) at #1 JWU - 7:00 p.m.
Championship - Saturday, May 5
Game 7: at highest remaining seed
Founded in 1995, 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. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.
– #TheGNAC –