NEWTON, MA- Lasell College women's lacrosse earned their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) triumph of the season today with a 15-11 decision over Mount Ida College. The Lasers were led by sophomore Neila Kudla (Groton, MA) and senior Chelsea Caren (Redding, CT) who scored five goals each, Caren adding two assists for a game-best seven points. Both team's records settle at 3-4 this season after the contest and level out at 1-1 in the league.
The first ten minutes of play gave every indication of how tight the matchup between the neighboring rivals would be as the lead fluctuated four times. Neither team took more than a one goal lead for 23 minutes, during which time the score stood in a deadlock for the majority of the minutes. It was not until the final three minutes of the first half that the Lasers scored four unanswered goals to pull away from the Mustangs.
Mount Ida's leading scorer, Jen Thompson (Easton, MD), struck first at 27:16 by rounding the net and firing from close-range to put the Mustangs on top. A free possession attack by Lasell's Ashley Slattery (Weymouth, MA) less than one minute later leveled the score.
Through the next four minutes the teams stood at a stalemate before Ida's Alexandria Milot (Tiverton, RI) tore down from midfield on a breakaway to give the visitors a 2-1 edge at 22:39. The Mustang advantage barely settled in before the Lasers retaliated with a goal 50 seconds later, hit by Kelsey Conroy (Marshfield, MA) who was caught on a center cut by Caren from the wing.
Kudla gave Lasell their first lead, 3-2, at the 21 minute mark for a lead which would hold through the next six minutes before Thompson knotted the score at the midway point in the half. Kudla was awarded a free possession shot one minute later to put Lasell ahead again.
Caren worked her way through a cluster of Mustang defenders to slice one past Mount Ida net minder Katherine Chousa's (Norwood, MA) mask with 8:07 on the clock to put Lasell on top for the third time in the game, and Kudla deposited her third goal at 6:47 to give Lasell their first two-goal edge.
After a Laser turnover, Molly Shepard (Brookhaven, NY) sprinted full field on a breakaway to bounce one past Lasell's goalie Kristin Coderre (Monson, MA) in a one-on-one situation brining the score to 6-5, and Danielle Chuba (Wrightstown, NJ) evened the score for the fifth time at 6-all with 3:10 left to play in the period.
Off the resulting draw, Lasell regained the lead when Caren controlled the possession and drove her way to the cage to score at 2:50. In the final minute of the first half, Slattery, Britney Wuorio (Bolton, MA), and Caren all netted goals after the Mustangs defense yielded free possession shots. Lasell had a 10-6 lead at halftime.
Lasell edged Mount Ida 15-12 in shots and 6-3 in saves in the period while profiting from 5-of-6 free possession chances in the half and going 5-for-5 in clears. The Mustangs struggled to clear the ball from their backfield going 4-10 in the stanza.
Caren and Kudla had both scored three times for the Lasers in the first while Thompson had half of the Mustangs goals for the period. Caren led all players with five points.
After a Mustang penalty to start the second half, Slattery launched a shot while Lasell was man-up to expand the hosts edge to a five-goal advantage, at 26:53.
Mount Ida rallied for a comeback just after the 20 minute mark as the Mustangs connected for a pair of free possession shots, back-to-back, at 19:19 and 17:34 when Ebony Mills (Harrison, ME) charged in to score the Mustangs first goal of the second half and Thompson completed the second. The Mustangs recorded their third goal in a matter of four minutes when Thompson tucked in her fifth mark at 16:47 bending in from behind the cage.
The momentum shift continued in Mount Ida's favor when Kira Feeter (Keene, NH) cut the Lasers lead to one (11-10) at 14:46. Feeter was set up by Chuba cutting across the crease for an isolation play which left Feeter able to quickly turn and shoot with no resistance.
At 8:54, Lasell cancelled out their scoreless stretch spanning 17 minutes when Kudla patiently waited for an opportunity to blast a shot from 10 meters out. A free possession goal by Kudla just one minute later gave Lasell a 13-10 cushion.
With four minutes to go, Wuorio was awarded a free possession attempt which she dished off to Caren on the wing to dump a goal over Chousa's shoulder and with 2:49 on the clock Caren added another tally, handed off by Jen Lemoine (Trumbull, CT). Sheppard closed scoring for the game with a goal at 1:06, finishing the game 15-11.
In addition to Caren and Kudla's combined 10 goals, Slattery finished the game with three tallies, along with six draw controls and four ground balls.
Coderre made 11 saves in the Lasers net for her third win of the season.
In a losing effort, Thompson notched five goals while Mills concluded the match with three points, on two assists and one goal. Sheppard scored twice and Chuba added two points in the defeat. Chousa was credited with six stops in the contest.
Lasell will next host Saint Joseph College of Connecticut on Saturday, April 2nd, at 2:00 p.m. on Grellier Field.