NEWTON, Mass. (10/4/14) – The Lasell College field hockey team earned their first Great Northeast athletic Conference victory of the season with a 1-0 win against visiting Rivier University. The Lasers improved to 4-7 overall and 1-2 in the league, while the Raiders slipped to 2-8 on the year and 1-3 in conference games.

Lasell used a 19-3 advantage in shots and the third goal of the season for Ashley Gleason (Suffield, Mass.) to advance past Rivier. Denise Landry (New Milford, Conn.) made three saves in the victory to record her second shutout of the season.

Rivier netminder Mackenzie Flagg (Shirley, Mass.) stopped five shots in the loss, and senior Veronica Jones (W. Chesterfield, N.H.) made a defensive save to help keep the game close. Nicole Hauer (No. Attleboro, Mass.) had a pair of shots on frame and MaryKate Sweeney (Chicopee, Mass.) also forced Lasell's keeper to make a save in the contest.

The Lasers had long stretches of possession and held a 7-2 edge in penalty corners in the contest but were unable to get on the board in the opening half. In the 8^th minute of play Courtney Braman (Gardner, Mass.) had a quality chance that got past Flagg in the goal, but Jones cleared it off the line and prevented the Lasers from opening the scoring.

After getting three early penalty corners in the second half, Lasell was able to take advantage of a failed clearance by the Raiders and Gleason gathered the ball in front of the cage and fired her shot into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 52^nd minute of play. Rivier's best shot at tying the score came in the 67^th minute when Hauer's effort was unable to beat Landry and Lasell held on for the win.

Lasell will travel to Roger Williams for a non-conference road game on Wednesday October 8^th at 4:00 p.m. while Rivier will visit Becker College on Sunday October 5^th at 12:00 p.m.