NEWTON, Mass. (4/25/14) – The second-seeded Lasell College men's lacrosse team lost 12-11 to third-seeded Becker College in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference semifinal round on a David Deschenes (Gales Ferry, Conn.) goal with 13 seconds remaining in the game. The loss ends the Lasers season at 11-6 while the Hawks improve to 13-4 as they advance to the GNAC Championship game on Sunday April 27th.
Andrew Suh (Colchester, Conn.) scored four goals to pace the Lasell offense, Josh Gallant (Hampstead, N.H.) added two goals and one assist while Dylan Gray (Bayport, N.Y.) and Casey Sullivan (Waterford, Conn.) chipped in one goal and two assists apiece. David Walen (Longmeadow, Mass.) made 19 saves while taking the loss in the cage for Lasell.
Deschenes finished with three goals and three assists including the game-winner for Becker and Daniel Johnson (Plymouth, Mass.) had a game-high five goals. Blake Boutiette (Burrville, R.I.) added two goals and an assist and Shane Balestracci (Pawcatuck, Conn.) chipped in a goal and an assist for the Hawks. Jeffrey Candee (Madison, Conn.) stopped 12 shots to earn his 13th victory of the season.
Andrew Suh got the Lasers going in the opening quarter, scoring three minutes into the contest on a feed from Casey Sullivan, then tallying an unassisted goal with eight minutes to play in the quarter to give Lasell a 2-0 lead. Becker evened the score at 2-2 on goals from Daniel Johnson and Blake Boutiette, tying the score for the first of six times throughout the game.
Pat Egan (Glen Rock, N.J.) scored with 13:47 to play in the half to help Lasell regain the lead at 3-2, but Johnson and Myles White (Norwalk, Conn.) tallied consecutive goals to give Becker their first lead of the game at 4-3 with 10:23 left in the period. Aaron LaPorte (Gorham, Maine) scored for Lasell midway through the quarter and a goal from Josh Gallant with 3:45 to play in the half gave Lasell a 5-4 lead at intermission.
Casey Sullivan made it a 6-4 lead for Lasell just 45 seconds into the third quarter but goals a minute apart from Deschenes and Johnson tied the score at 6-6 with 6:40 on the clock in the third quarter. Joe Cunning (Newton, Mass.) and Dylan Gray put Lasell back in front 8-6 with consecutive goals, sending the hosts into the final period with a two-goal lead.
Johnson pulled a goal back for Becker just 17 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 8-7, but a Gallant goal put Lasell back up by two with 13:46 remaining. Becker tied the score at 9-9 on goals by Boutiette and Deschenes less than a minute apart and a Boutiette goal with 11:12 on the clock put Becker in front 10-9. The Hawks pushed their lead to 11-9 on Johnson's fifth goal of the game with 5:34 left in the game, but the Lasers would rally. Dylan Gray found Suh for a goal with 2:23 left in the game to make it 11-10, then Suh scored with 52 seconds left tying the game at 11-11 and setting the stage for Deschenes final goal. Becker came up with possession off the face-off, and Deschenes found a sliver of space at the top, beating Lasell's Walen with a low shot with 13.5 seconds to play. Lasell grabbed the ensuing face-off, creating a final opportunity, but their transition opportunity ended with an errant pass and Becker came away with the victory.