Lasers' Updates

Men's Soccer

The Lasers went 2-0 this week, and remain undefeated in the GNAC as they head into the second half of their season.  After this week, Lasell improved their overall record to 4-4-0, and their conference record to 3-0-0. 

The Lasers started with an 8-0 win over non conference opponent Lesley University.  The Lynx were no match for Lasell, as ten athletes scored points for the Lasers.  Leading the point scoring for the Lasers was Zach Gagne (Somerset, MA), who scored twice and assisted one, combining for 9 total points.  Kyle Cronin (Weymouth, MA), Jacob Allen (Westminster, MA), Tholeman Francois (Stoughton, MA), Steve Petrin (Vernon, CT), and Joshua Martinez (Milton, MA) each scored one goal piece, with Dan Hatch (Avon, MA), Shane Vinnicombe (Pomfret Center, CT), Steve Salerno (Stoneham, MA), and Jareb Sechrist (Auburn, CA) each picking up assists in the win.

Senior goalkeeper Julian Dutton (Madison, CT) picked up the shutout win, his second shutout of the season.

Lasell then faced Emerson College in GNAC action, played at Roche Field, in Boston.  Gagne again scored twice for the Lasers.  Francois picked up his 5^th goal of the season off a pass from Matt Tieri (Billerica, MA), and Hatch scored his 6^th goal of the season after being fed by Cronin.  The Lasers beat the Lions 4-1, with Dutton collecting 6 saves.

Lasell is currently ranked second in the GNAC in shots (176), points (64), goals (25), assists (14), and shutouts (3).

Gagne (left) was selected this week as Player of the Week in the GNAC for his outstanding play.  Gagne is ranked 4th in the GNAC for total points with eleven this season so far, and third for points per game, with 1.38.  He is also ranked third in the GNAC for total goals (5) and goals per game (.62).  Gagne also serves as co-captain for the Lasers men's soccer team.

Men's & Women's Cross Country

The Lasell College men's and women's cross country team returned to action this week and traveled to Rivier College for an invitational meet.  The women's cross country team recorded 54 points for a second place finish, while the men's team finished with 71 points in fourth place.

The Lasers had five women finish in the top twenty, and two in the top ten.  Kayla McKenna (Warwick, RI) led the Lasers women's team across the finish line, with her best run of the season, at 21:54.  McKenna took over a minute off her previous race time (23:11) and completed the course in 3rd place. 

Following in her footsteps, Meghan Missett (Lowell, MA) took nearly two minutes off her previous finishing time, and finished in 6th place in the meet for the Lasers.  Missett ran an individual time of 22:23. 

Christina Lombardi (Marlborough, MA), also a freshman, finished next for Lasell with a time of 24:10, and an 11th place finish.  Rounding off the top twenty were Lauren Darrah (Beverly, MA) and Ariella Harrington (Woburn, MA) who placed 18th and 19th.  Lombardi, Darrah, and Harrington all ran their best meet time so far in the 2008 season.

Completing the top twenty five finishers at the race were Lasell's Stephanie Hauck (Westwood, MA) finished the race in 25:05 and placing 22nd, and Meagan McCole (W. Bridgewater, MA) with a 26:26 and the 25^th spot.

The men's team finished in fourth place overall at the Rivier Invitational, and had 4 athletes finish in the top twenty.  Chris Johnson (Gloucester, MA) continues to lead for the Lasers, finishing in the 3rd place, with a time of 30:09.  Johnson has been the top finisher for the men's cross country team in every race this year so far. 

Sophomore Kris McCabe (Kingston, NY) came in next for Lasell in the 8th spot, running a 31:05 meet, and junior Zach Lambert (Marlborough, MA) was close on his trail with a 12th place finish and a 31:24 run time. 

Grant Valentine (Fitchburg, MA), a first year student, claimed the 20th place and was the fourth to finish for Lasell, with a 34:52 time.

Michael Isherwood (Warwick, RI) and Jason Allen (Framingham, MA) completed the scoring for the men's team with the 28^th and 30^th spots respectively.  Isherwood ran a 37:32 and Allen completed at 39:13.

Field Hockey

The Lasers picked up their first North Atlantic Conference win of the 2008 season this weekend when they beat Thomas College at Grellier Field.  Though the weather conditions were tough, with wet, rainy fields all weekend, the Lasers took home the 4-3 win over the Terriers.

Amy Lentini (Wilmington, MA) recorded her first goal of the season in the contest with Thomas.  Caitlyn Walker (Middlebury, CT), Meagan DeAndrade (New Bedford, MA), and Stephanie Jansen (Glen, NH) completed the scoring for the Lasers, who improved their record to 4-5, and 1-2 in the conference.  Lasell's goalie Christine Thornton (Canton, MA) picked up 11 saves during the game.

Walker is currently leading the Lasers in point scoring with 9 goals and 3 assists, for 21 total points this season so far.  Walker is ranked 5^th in the NAC overall in points and points per game, is tied for third in goals and goals per game, and is tied for 8^th in assists.

DeAndrade is leading the Lasers in shooting percentage (.375) having connected on 6 goals in just 16 shots. 

The Lasers also played UMaine- Farmington this weekend, which ended in a 0-1 loss for Lasell.  Farmington is currently undefeated in the NAC.  Thornton collected 16 saves for the Lasers, and had help in the net from teammate Cara Hulse (Danbury, CT) and Ainsley Wolfe (Derry, NH) who picked up defensive saves for Lasell.

Hulse leads the league in defensive saves with 4 total, averaging .57 a game.  Kelsey Brooks (Dartmouth, MA) and Wolfe each have two defensive saves, and are in a four way tie for 3^rd place in the league. 

Earlier in the week, the Lasers shut out Regis College, 5-0, in non-conference play. Walker scored 4 unassisted goals, and Jansen connected with the net once.  Hulse picked up another defensive save, and Thornton picked up two more saves to finish the week with 29 saves.

For the second consecutive week, Thornton (right) was recognized for her accomplishments in the field hockey net by the NAC, by awarding her the Rookie of the Week honors.  Thornton was co-rookie of the week last week also, but this week she stands alone.

Women's Volleyball

The Lasers went 1-2 this week in three conference matches against Johnson & Wales, Suffolk, and Mount Ida. 

The women opened the week with a 0-3 loss to Johnson & Wales. Lasell was led by freshman Danielle Drapeau (Biddeford, Maine) with four kills and three digs and Senior Kelsey Schmidt (Ballston Spa, NY) with four kills and two digs.  Junior Amanda Major (Southbury, Conn.) had a match high 18 digs, while Melanie Costa (Ludlow, MA) and Jenna Lynn Geary (Marion, MA) combined for 20 more digs, in the setback for the Lasers.

Then the Lasers split in a tri-match at Mount Ida, beating Suffolk 3-0 before dropping to the Mustangs 0-3.  

In game one, the Lasers handily took the victory from the Rams 25-10, 25-19, and 25-15.  Nicole Wetterman (Dighton, MA) and Drapeau had 8 kills and 7 kills respectively, while Eileen Barrett (Ludlow, MA) and Geary pitched in an additional 10 kills together. Meghan Crozier (Ballston Spa, NY) dished out 15 assists for the Lasers.

The Lasers then faced neighboring college, Mount Ida, and fought hard to take home the win, but the Mustangs prevailed, 25-21, 25-15, 25-20.

Schmidt hit a .278 clip for the Lasers, and came up with 6 kills and 2 blocks in the match.  Drapeau wasn't far behind her with 5 kills, 2 blocks, and an additional 4 digs.  Kayla Binette (Biddeford, ME) and Crozier picked up 14 assists combined in the second match of the day. Junior captain, Amanda Major (Southbury, CT) had 33 digs overall in the two matches.

Lasell is ranked fourth in the GNAC for blocks with 69 solo blocks and 20 block assists, for a total of 79 blocks.  Major leads the league in digs with 216, averaging 5.16 per set. 

The Lasers are now 4-9 overall this season, and 2-2 in conference play.

Upcoming Events:

9/30/08 - Women's soccer @ Emmanuel, 7:00 p.m.

10/01/08- Men's soccer v. Norwich @ Taylor Field, 4:00 p.m.

10/02/08- Women's Volleyball v. WIT @ Athletic Center, 7:00 p.m.

             - Field Hockey @ Becker, 4:00 p.m.

10/04/08- Women's Volleyball v. Norwich @ Athletic Center, 1:00 p.m.

             - Men's soccer v. Albertus Magnus @ Taylor Field, 12:00 p.m.

             - Women's soccer v. Albertus Magnus @ Taylor Field, 2:30 p.m.

             - Cross Country @ Gordon College Invitational.