PORTLAND, Maine (10/22/16) – For the fourth consecutive season, the Lasell women's soccer team claimed the top spot in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference after defeating St. Joseph's College of Maine, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon at Deering Memorial Stadium.
Prior to today's contest, St. Joe's honored its lone senior, Desiree Parent (Westborough, Mass.) for her contributions to the Monks women's soccer program. In addition to Parent's celebration, both squads played their final regular season conference contest in a Thyroid Cancer Awareness game. Donations were collected at the event, and all proceeds were donated to Kick for Dana Farber Cancer Research. Both teams played in honor of junior keeper Sarah LaClair (Belchertown, Mass.), a thyroid cancer survivor. To read more on Sarah's story, click here.
Led by a nine-point performance from senior Megan Cullen (Amesbury, Mass.), the reigning champs close out conference play at 10-0-1 and advance to 14-2-1 overall. The Monks dip to 6-2-3 in the conference and hold the number four slot while shifting to 9-6-3 this season.
Cullen added four goals and a helper en route to Lasell's 14th straight victory, while Erika Badger (Scituate, Mass.) scored her 6th goal of the season in the effort.
St. Joe's forward Haley DeGraca (Saco, Maine) carried the Monks offense with both goals in the setback.
Cullen ignited her offensive charge in the 5th minute, collecting a through ball from classmate Devon Day (Hartland, Vt.). Cullen tapped the opening goal past charging Monks keeper Brooke Troup (East Bridgewater, Mass.) before the duo struck again 13 minutes later. Day took a blast on net that was initially stopped by Troup, but Cullen was waiting for the rebound to advance Lasell's lead to 2-0.
The Monks answered in the 34th minute on a set play, as Emily Decula's (Gorham, Maine) corner set DeGraca for a perfect header that skimmed over Lasell's back line.
After the halftime break, Cullen and Badger teamed up for back-to-back goals past Troup's right side to hold a 4-1 advantage with 30 minutes left in regulation. DeGraca and the Monks would not hold up, as a long-shot from 30 yards out gave St. Joe's goal number two in the 68th minute.
The Lasers ended on a Cullen marker, assisted by junior Casey Meissner (Sandwich, Mass.) to seal the match 5-2.
LaClair (14-2-1) registered five total saves in the win between the pipes for Lasell, while Troup (9-6-3) made five saves in 86:03 minutes played.
Both teams will enter the GNAC postseason on Sunday, October 30. The No. 1 seeded Lasers will host the No. 8 Blue Jays of St. Joe's Connecticut at 1:00 on Taylor Field, while the No. 4 Monks welcome the fifth seeded Sharks of Simmons College with a game time to be determined.