NEWTON, Mass. (9/10/16) – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer opener resulted in a 1-1 tie between the Lasell College Lasers and the visiting Wildcats of Johnson and Wales on Saturday afternoon at Taylor Field. The Lasers shift to 0-2-1 overall, while the Wildcats move to 3-0-1.

The Lasers grabbed an early lead in the 4^th minute off a far-post goal from sophomore Carly Zdanek (Newton, N.J.), but the Wildcats answered back in the 12^th minute via junior Kyra Selner (Sterling, Va.).

As the clock ticked down from opening kickoff, the rain poured on Taylor Field while the No. 1 and No. 2 preseason picks began the conference opener. Zdanek sparked the offense for the Lasers at 4:47, netting Lasell's first goal of the season on a left flank run and far-post finish.

Adding to Lasell's 13 shots in the first half, junior Casey Meissner (Sandwich, Mass.) pinged the ball just wide in the 10^th minute just before Selner beat a Lasell defender to deadlock the GNAC opener, 1-1.

Despite a 24 total shot count, the Lasers couldn't capitalize in the offensive third and settled for a conference regular season tie, a mirror image from when the two contested last October.

The Wildcats got five shots off in the full 110 minutes of play, while Lasell owned a slim advantage in corner kicks 3-2.

Junior keeper Sarah LaClair (Belchertown, Mass.) recorded three saves in the effort, while freshman Colleen Lynch (New Milford, Conn.) registered a season-high 12 saves to keep the Wildcats in the game.

Both teams will resume non-conference action before the next GNAC contest. The Lasers will travel to Colby-Sawyer on Wednesday, September 14 for a 4:00 p.m. game, while the Wildcats host Connecticut College on Monday, September 11 at 7:00 p.m.