Written by: Matt Cermola
NEWTON, MA- After a tightly played game, the no. 2 seeded Lasell College women's lacrosse team scored four straight goals in the middle of the second half to put away no. 3 seed Emerson College, 18-14, on Friday afternoon in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament semi-finals. With the win the Lasers secured a spot in the GNAC Championship which will take place on Sunday, May 1st at no. 1 seeded, and regular season champion, Norwich University.
In the first half, the Lasers jumped ahead of the Lions when after the game was tied at three a piece in the early going, two goals of which were scored by Tina Canavan (Stonington, CT). The Lasers then scored four straight goals against Emerson goalie Emil Saeger (Center Valley, PA) to take a 7-3 lead.
Emerson would respond by scoring three goals in a row past Laser keeper Kristin Coderre (Monson, MA), all of which were scored by Chelsea Phillips (Waterford, CT), to shorten the Laser lead to one, 7-6, with 7:06 remaining in the half.
With the score tied at nine, and with just 19 seconds to go in the first half, Chelsea Caren (Redding, MA) put Lasell on top, 10-9, as the teams headed into the halftime break.
The second half was much of the same as it began with both teams trading goals. However, a Lasell surge, which began with 17 minutes to go, put the game away. After a Phillips goal to tie the game at 12-all, Rebecca Stanton (Aagawam, MA) started a four minute stretch that would end with the Lasers having a 16-12 lead, a lead they would never give up again.
Despite the turnover (Emerson, 17, Lasell 15) and ground ball (Emerson 17, Lasell 14) battles being very tight, the Lasers almost doubled the Lions in shots, 36-20.
Lasell's scoring was spread out, with Canavan, Caren, and Britney Wuorio (Bolton, MA)tallying four goals apiece. Ashley Slattery (Weymouth, MA) also contributed with three goals on five shots.
The Lions were led by Phillips who scored half of the team's goals, netting seven of her ten shots. Emerson's season concludes at 7-9 and a third place finish in the GNAC.
Lasell (11-5) will face Norwich on Sunday, time is TBD.