Newton, Mass.-- Lasell College and Suffolk University met in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference showdown on Taylor Field Thursday afternoon, resulting in a 1-1 double overtime stalemate. The Lasers overall record stands at 3-1-1 currently, while the Rams end the day at 3-0-1.
Nineteen minutes into the contest, Lasell's Shane Vinnicombe (Pomfret Center, Conn.) took a corner kick that curved towards the Ram's net where goalie Jack DeJesus (Swampscott, Mass.) swatted away the Lasers chance at a goal. The loose ball caused a scramble in front of the Rams goal, but it was Paul Meucci (Vernon, Conn.) who controlled the ball with a header, beating DeJesus and earning a 1-0 lead for Lasell.
Lasell had two more very close calls shortly after in the first half when Vinnicombe sailed down from the midfield to drive a perfect pass to Kyle Cronin (Weymouth, Mass.) who was waiting with a direct kick on goal. DeJesus was ready making a sliding save on the play. Following that, Dan Hatch (Avon, Mass.) fired a lightning quick shot high over DeJesus' head, however an unlucky bounce off the crossbar knocked the ball out of play, saving Suffolk from a further deficit.
Ben Rollins (Lee, NH) also had two close calls for Suffolk in the first half, both of which were punched out of play by Lasell's netminder Julian Dutton (Madison, Conn.). Dutton stifled five opportunities the Rams were able to attempt in the period. Just before the teams broke for the half, Sean Fisher (Griswold, Conn.) made one final save for the Lasers, making a perfect defensive tackle as and Lasell entered the intermission with a 1-0 lead.
Nine minutes into the second period, Suffolk evened the score as Danny Lloyd (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) dribbled through traffic and shot from right field to the opposite corner of the net.
Lasell took double the shots that Suffolk attempted in the second half, yet were unable to connect again. Luck was on the Rams side once more during the stanza as Hatch had another near-make midway through, beating a diving DeJesus in a one-on-one battle, but just narrowly missing the goal. The ball hit first off one post, then slamming directly across the net to hit the other post and trickled out of the net.
After regulation play concluded in an impasse, Lasell took just one more shot in the extra frames, while Suffolk stepped up to drive four more shots on the Lasers' net. Time ran out before either team could score.
Lasell continues conference play on Saturday, September 19th on Taylor Field. Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.