Leicester, MA- Lasell College fell in non-conference women’s lacrosse action on Wednesday afternoon at Becker College, 15-13. The Lasers came back from a four-goal differential in the second half, closing the gap to one (14-13) before the Hawks conserved their victory with the final goal of the game.
Lasell took an 8-6 lead into the halftime, however Becker returned from the break on a 7-0 run from which the Lasers did not recover. The Lasers were led by junior Andrea Ward (Hingham, MA) who produced seven points, scoring six goals and adding an assist. Freshman Ashley Slattery (Weymouth, MA) and junior April McGrath (Willow Grove, PA) each tallied three marks, and sophomore Riley Fickett (Nottingham, NH) recorded one goal.
Freshman net minder Lindsay Cahoon (Falmouth, MA) made 13 saves in the losing effort.
McGrath and Ward sliced in the first two shots of the game, giving Lasell a 2-0 lead four minutes into the contest. The Hawks came back to tie things up at two-all within the next six minutes, then took the advantage with a Morgan Hazen (Woodstock, VT) point, 21 seconds later.
Ward evened the score to three-all at 17:51, with her second goal, and brought the score to an even six-all, at 5:36, on her third goal of the game. McGrath gave Lasell the edge with 2:04 left before the intermission, and Ward fired in the final shot of the half for the Lasers two-goal differential at the half.
Becker came out on fire in the second as the Hawks scored the first six goals of the half. Jennifer Ouellette (Merrimack, NH.) got things started when she made the score 8-7, with 25:49 remaining. Nicole Lijana tied the game at eight all when she tallied her third goal of the game.
Freshman Vanessa Laureano (Dracut, Mass.) netted back to back unassisted goals as the Hawks took a 10-8 advantage. After Lijana scored her fourth goal of the game, Hazen scored on an assist from Laureano, putting the Hawks in front 12-8.
The persistent Lasers refused to go down easily. Slattery put the Lasers within three when she scored on a free position shot, followed by McGrath dropping in her third goal of the game, making the score 13-10. Slattery put the Lasers within two on another free position shot, and Ward put the Lasers within one on an unassisted goal with 1:34 left in the game. With Becker clinging to a one goal lead, Lijana scored on a feed from Laureano with ten seconds remaining, capturing the win for the Hawks.
Lindsay Peluso (Dudley, Mass.) made 11 saves as the Hawks improved to 3-7 on the season.
Lasell now holds a 7-7 mark this season with two conference games left in the regular season. The Lasers will travel to Norwich University on Friday, April 17th at 4:00 p.m. for their next league tilt.