FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

NO. 1 JWU 5, NO. 8 REGIS 0

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Johnson & Wales women's soccer team defeated the Regis College Pride by a score of 5-0. Wildcats assisted on four of their five goals.

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications.

NO. 5 LASELL 3, NO. 4 SUFFOLK 2 - OT

EAST BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Serena Speight (Biddeford, Maine) scored two goals, including the game-winner a minute and a half into overtime Saturday afternoon as fifth-seeded Lasell University edged fourth-seeded Suffolk University, 3-2, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer quarterfinal game at James A. Sarotri Stadium at East Boston Memorial Park.

Two minutes into the first overtime period Speight rolled down the sideline on a breakaway and struck the game-winner past Suffolk keeper Allison Rodrigues.

The Lasers, who avenged a 1-0 loss at Suffolk during the regular season back on October 9, moves on to a semifinal game on Tuesday, November 5, against the winner of top-seeded Johnson & Wales University and eighth-seeded Regis College.

Suffolk's Alyssa Barahona and Lasell senior Caitlin Rotonnelli (Meredith, N.H.) traded goals late in the first half, and Speight and Caleigh O'Brien exchanged goals midway through the second half to set up overtime.

Suffolk had a chance to break open the scoring in the 11th minute when Addisyn Lanza found O'Brien sneaking past several Lasell defenders past the 25-yard line. O'Brien gained possession of the ball and beat her defender to the middle of the box, but her shot sailed wide past the post.

Barahona and O'Brien connected for the first score of the day nearly 32 minutes into the match. O'Brien tapped a short through ball to Barahona inside the box, who had a one-on-one opportunity with Lasell sophomore keeper Angela Sanzari (North Haven, Conn.). The Rams defender let it fly over the outstretched arms of Sanzari into the top left corner of the net to put Suffolk on the board, 1-0.

Seven minutes later Lasell capitalized on a turnover inside Suffolk's defensive zone. Rotonnelli stifled several Rams defenders just outside of the 15-yard line and gained control of a loose ball. The senior then sent off a rocket a few inches below the cross bar to equalize the game at one.

Out of the break, the Lasers continued to attack the Rams. In the 54th minute Speight sprinted past the Rams backline across the top of the box and struck a low winding shot past Rodrigues to give Lasell a 2-1 edge. Freshman Alex Lorenzo (Pawtucket, R.I.) assisted on the play.

O'Brien responded for the Rams nine minutes later. The junior forward dribbled past a pair of Lasers on the 20-yard line and ripped off a high arching shot that found its way into the top right corner of the net to lock the game at 2-all.

Lanza had a chance to break the tie by tapping the ball into an empty net with just under a minute remaining, but Suffolk was called for a foul, forcing the extra frame.

Rodrigues made six saves in between the pipes for the Rams. Sanzari turned away one shot in the victory. Lasell had 22 shots to Suffolk's 9. The Lasell held the edge in corners, 5-1.

Courtesy of Suffolk Athletics Communications.

NO. 3 EMMANUEL 5, NO. 6 ALBERTUS 2

BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman forward Megan McMillen (North Branford, Conn.) scored her first collegiate hat trick to lift the Emmanuel College women's soccer team over Albertus Magnus College, 5-2, Saturday afternoon in the Quarterfinal round of the 2019 Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament at Roberto Clemente Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

• The Saints came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, attempting seven shots and three corner kicks in the first 15 minutes of play before McMillen found the back of the net to make it 1-0 at the 17:19 marker. Senior back Kaylin Deschenes (Lynn, Mass.) whipped in a ball on a direct kick that McMillen headed home for her second goal of the season.
• The first-year forward got her second goal in the 32^nd minute as junior defender Rachel Prevost (Tewksbury, Mass.) found her in front of the net to give Emmanuel a 2-0 cushion.
• The Saints added what proved to be the eventual game-winner with less than five minutes to play in the opening half when junior winger Paige White (Guilford, Conn.) buried her third goal of the campaign with the help of an assist by junior midfielder Sydney Allen (Charlestown, R.I.) to give the hosts a 3-0 cushion heading into halftime.
• At the break, Emmanuel held a 16-5 advantage in shots as well as a 4-3 lead in corner kicks.
• McMillen put the game out of reach in the 58^th minute with her third score of the afternoon, poking home her fourth goal of the season following a scrum in the box to make it a 4-0 lead for EC.
• Junior Hannah Sheskey (Scituate, Mass.) got into the scoring column with her sixth goal of the season to bump the lead to 5-0 as first year midfielder Aoife Delaney (Weymouth, Mass.) set her up for the score.
• Albertus Magnus never stopped playing hard and broke up the shutout with 7:55 to play in regulation as junior forward Katherine Raposo (Warwick, R.I.) found the upper corner of the goal following an assist from freshman midfielder Jenessa Perez (Oxford, Conn.) to make it 5-1.
• Minutes later, Raposo capped a phenomenal season with her team-leading 17^th goal of the year, finishing a pass from Keegan Riccio (West Haven, Conn.) to account for the 5-2 final score.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• EC first year keeper Alyssa Crugnale (Middleton, Mass.) picked up the win to improve to 5-0-1 on the year in net making five saves.
• Senior goalkeeper Cassidy Scofield (Shelton, Conn.) ended an outstanding career with the Falcons by making 10 saves in defeat.
• The Saints ended the action outshooting the Falcons by a 24-13 margin while each squad attempted five corners in the Quarterfinal.
• Emmanuel improves to 16-3-1 all-time against Albertus Magnus and is now 2-1-1 against the Falcons in GNAC postseason play.
• Both White and Sheskey scored against the Falcons earlier in the season when Emmanuel posted a 2-0 win exactly one month ago on October 2.
• EC improves to 4-0-0 on the season when scoring three or more goals in a match.

UP NEXT

• Emmanuel advances to the GNAC semifinals for the second consecutive season and will face No. 2 seeded Saint Joseph's College (ME) on Tuesday in Standish, Maine. The Monks advanced in their Quarterfinal match-up in penalty kicks, playing to a 2-2 draw through 110 minutes of action before a 3-2 round of PK's helped them hold seed.  

Courtesy of Emmanuel Athletics Communications.

NO. 2 SJC 2, NO. 7 USJ 2 - SJC ADVANCES ON PKs

STANDISH, Maine – Senior Hailey Tarr (Eliot, Maine) converted her attempt in the second round of penalty kicks to help #2 Saint Joseph's College (13-3-3) get past #7 University of Saint Joseph (10-6-2) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer tournament quarterfinal at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:

With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the GNAC semifinal round and will host #3 Emmanuel College on Tuesday evening, start time TBD. The Saints toppled sixth-seeded Albertus Magnus College by a 5-2 in other quarterfinal action this afternoon.

For University of Saint Joseph, the loss signals the end of the 2019 campaign.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

With the tourney tilt tied 2-2 after 90 minutes of regulation and a pair of 10-minute overtime frames, the Monks and Blue Jays – teams that played to a 0-0 double-overtime stalemate during the regular season – headed for penalty kicks to determine which team would advance to the semifinals.

The first PK round, which is a best-of-five format, saw the conference counterparts both net a trio of tries to force a second PK set. The NCAA rules state that the second PK round features attempts that "continue alternately in the same order until a team has one more goal in the same number of kicks" (7.1.1.3).

The second PK round saw just two kickers, as SJC sophomore keeper Adia Grogan (Kennebunk, Maine) made a tremendous diving save on an attempt by junior Alyssa Fecko (Stafford, Conn.), setting the stage for Tarr, who launched a shot to the upper right corner of the net, effectively advancing the Monks to the semifinal round in the process.

The Monks fought back from a pair of deficits during regulation. USJ sophomore Rylee Snow (West Greenwich, R.I.) opened the scoring at the 22:41 mark with her seventh tally of the season, but SJC junior McKenzie Murphy (West Baldwin, Maine) notched her 11th of the year, off a feed from Tarr, just under eight minutes later to knot the game at 1-1.

The tie score almost made it to intermission, but Olivia Belcourt hit pay dirt off an Olivia Norton pass at the 43:20 mark to live the Blue Jays to a 2-1 edge heading into halftime.

The outlook was bleak for the Monks as the hosts trailed 2-1 going into the final five minutes of regulation, but consistent offensive pressure paid dividends at the 85:17 time stamp, when Murphy found freshman Madison Michaud (Presque Isle, Maine) with a lead pass and the first-year phenom beat USJ sophomore netminder Lindsey Montminy (Vernon, Conn.)– who left the goalmouth to challenge – for her sixth strike of the year.

THE KEEPERS:

Grogan turned away eight shots for the Monks while Montminy posted 10 saves for the Blue Jays.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (27-15), shots on goal (12-10), and corner kicks (6-3) on the afternoon.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Today's contest goes down as a tie in the record books as the Monks are now 8-3-5 all-time versus University of Saint Joseph.

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications.

Quarterfinals - Saturday, November 2 (at high seeds)
Match 1: #8 Regis at #1 JWU - 4:00 PM
Match 2: #5 Lasell at #4 Suffolk - 12:00 PM
Match 3: #6 Albertus Magnus at #3 Emmanuel - 12:00 PM
Match 4: #7 USJ (CT) at #2 Saint Joseph's Maine - 12:00 PM

Semifinals - Tuesday, November 5 (at high seeds)
Match 5: #5 Lasell at #1 JWU - 7:00 PM
Match 6: #3 Emmanuel at #2 Saint Joseph's Maine

Championship - Saturday, November 9 
Match 7: At highest remaining seed 

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 –