NEWTON, Mass. – There will be a lacrosse play-off doubleheader at Lasell College this Saturday, April 27, as the Laser men's and women's teams will host Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) quarterfinal games at Grellier Field.
The third-seeded Laser women will host sixth-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine Saturday at noon, and the top-seeded Laser men will entertain eighth-seeded Albertus Magnus College at 4 p.m. The winners advance to the semifinals, next Tuesday, April 30, for the men and Wednesday, May 1, for the women, and the GNAC Championship games are next Saturday, May 4, at the sites of the highest remaining seeds. Both the men's and women's GNAC champions earn automatic berths in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournaments.
WOMEN
The Lasers (14-3 overall, 9-2 GNAC) and Monks (9-7 overall, 7-4 GNAC) will be meeting for the second time in four days. The two teams squared off the regular season finale on Wednesday, April 24, with Lasell pulling out an exciting 12-11 overtime victory.
The evenly-matched game was a series of streaks, as the Monks scored the first five goals of the game before Lasell followed with seven goals in a row to move ahead 7-5 at halftime. St. Joe's came out of the break with three straight and six of the next seven goals to pull ahead, only to see Lasell answer with three in a row to even the score at 11-all, setting up overtime and the eventual game-winner.
The other quarterfinal games feature #8-seed Norwich University at #1-seed and two-time defending champion Johnson & Wales University, #7-seed Emmanuel College at #2-seed Regis College, and #5-seed Simmons University at #4-seed Colby-Sawyer College.
Johnson & Wales defeated Lasell 20-9 in last year's championship game, and knocked off Simmons 19-5 in the 2017 title game. Lasell defeated JWU 12-9 in 2016 to claim its second championship, having also won in 2013.
MEN
The Lasers (14-1 overall, 8-0 GNAC) completed its second undefeated GNAC campaign in three years to claim this year's regular season title and top seed. Lasell is rising a program-record 13-game winning streak, which included a 21-3 victory over Albertus Magnus (2-11 overall, 1-7 GNAC) back on March 23 on Grellier Field.
The other quarterfinal games feature #7-seed Emmanuel College at #2-seed Norwich University, #6-seed and defending champion Johnson & Wales University at #3-seed Saint Joseph's College (Maine), and #5-seed Anna Maria College at #4-seed Riving University.
Johnson & Wales upset top-seeded Norwich, 9-5, in last year's championship game after upsetting second-seed Lasell in the semifinals. The Lasers claimed the 2017 crown with a dramatic 13-12 victory over Mount Ida College in the title game, and Emmanuel College won the three previous championships from 2014-16.
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