NEWTON, Mass. (11/03/15) – For the sixth consecutive season, the Lasell College women's soccer team secured a spot in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) finals after senior Sarah Jones (Duxbury, Mass.) netted the game-winning penalty kick on Tuesday afternoon at Taylor Field. The Lasers will head into the final round of the post-season tournament at 13-4-3 while the Blue Jays end a successful 2015 campaign at 10-7-2.
After seven rounds of no-decision penalty kicks, Jones fired a rocket of a shot in the lower left netting to preserve Lasell's undefeated conference record of 30-0-3, a stat dating back to 2013.
In what played out to be a full-out battle through 110 minutes of soccer, the Lasers dominated the shot count 17-5 and held an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks.
The Lasers tested the Blue Jays early and often, as junior Megan Cullen (Amesbury, Mass.) collected a ball from senior Bridget Munnelly (Bellingham, Mass.) in the 10th minute, but the shot was misfired just wide. Cullen kept the high-pressure offense intact and looked to score the first of the game with ten left in the first stanza, but Saint Joseph's senior keeper Melissa Dodge (Watertown, Conn.) was there to make the save.
Dodge would keep the visitors in the contest throughout the entire 45 minutes of the second half, as the Lasers fired off 11 shots, eight on frame, that were all denied by the senior net minder.
In 20 minutes of overtime, the Blue Jays continued to clog the midfield, in return allowing just a single shot from the Lasers. Senior Leah Suto (Oxford, Conn.) sent a ball on frame in the final minute of play, but the ball whizzed wide to put the Lasers in shootout position for the first time in program history.
After a Blue Jays' misfire over the top of the crossbar in the eighth round, Jones assumed the penalty kick station with a chance to put the game away for the home team. With composure and confidence, Jones caught Dodge off-guard and secured the No. 1 seeded Lasers a spot in the GNAC championship.
The GNAC final will be played on Taylor Field on Saturday, November 7 at 1:00 p.m. against tonight's semifinal winner between Emmanuel College and Johnson and Wales at 7:00 p.m.