Newton, Mass. (5/7/2013) – The Lasell College women's lacrosse team will make their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament on Wednesday evening when they travel to Waterville, Maine to take on seventh ranked Colby College out of the New England Small College Athletic Conference for a 7:00 p.m. game. Lasell earned the automatic berth into the NCAA tournament by virtue of winning the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship game, defeating Simmons College 15-14 on Sunday April 29th.
Lasell enters the NCAA tournament with a 15-3 record and having won 13 of their last 14 games after posting an undefeated 9-0 record in the GNAC regular season. Their lone defeat was a 20-19 overtime loss to Commonwealth Coast Conference finalist Western New England University. The Lasers boast the nation's second highest scoring offense at 17.6 goals per game and had five players named to the GNAC All-Conference teams.
Junior attacker Britney Wuorio (Bolton, Mass.) earned her second consecutive GNAC Offensive Player of the Year award, and is tied for first in the country in total points with 129, ranking third in the nation with 7.17 points per game. Senior midfielder Ashley Slattery (Weymouth, Mass.) was named to the All-GNAC First team for the third straight season and her 115 total points was the fifth highest mark nationally. Slattery holds the program records for career points, groundballs, draw controls and caused turnovers, and her all-around performance has played a key role in helping Lasell post back-to-back 15 win campaigns.
Sophomore attacker Caitlyn Brecher (Cheshire, Conn.) was the team's third leading scorer and her 40 goals and 11 assists earned her a place on the All-GNAC First team. Freshmen defender Bridget Munnelly (Bellingham, Mass.) was the fourth member of the Lasell team to earn First team honors, as she finished second on the team in groundballs with 47 and third in draw controls with 52. She added a boost offensively, tallying seven goals and eight assists in 17 games played. Junior defender Jen Lemoine (Trumbull, Conn.) was named to the All-GNAC Second Team for her efforts to anchor a young Lasell defense.
Colby College finished the regular season with a 12-4 record, and a 7-3 mark in NESCAC play. The Mules opened the season with eight consecutive victories before falling to #1 Trinity 8-4. Colby earned the #4 seed in the NESCAC tournament, and were eliminated in the semifinals by Middlebury College, 11-10.
Junior attacker Lindsey McKenna led Colby in goals, ranking third in the NESCAC with 43 goals in 16 games played. Junior attacker Katharine Eddy was the team's leader in points, scoring 21 goals and assisting on 31 other to tally 51 points on the year, the fourth best mark in the league. Senior midfielder Kate Pistel added 22 goals and chipped in 10 assists on the year.
Senior defender Meg Mooney and junior defender Kirsten Karis combined with junior goalkeeper Michelle Burt to lead the Mules stout defense, holding opposing teams to 6.6 goals per game, the second best mark in the league and tenth best mark in the country. Mooney paced the Mules in caused turnovers on the year with 20, and ranked second on the squad in groundballs with 21. Karis led the team in groundballs with 23, while trailing only Mooney in caused turnovers with 18. Burt boasted a save percentage of .548, the third best mark in the country.
McKenna, Eddy, Karis and Pistel were each named to the First Team All-Region team for the Pilgrim region, while Burt received Second Team All-region honors.
Ticket prices for the game are $3 for adults and $2 for students with I.D., and if you are unable to make it to the game then live stats and live video can be found HERE.