NEWTON, Mass. (5/6/16) – 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.) freshman David 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.
The Lasers will play the winner of the Emmanuel/Johnson and Wales game at a site that is to be determined.