NEWTON, Mass. (3/26/15) – The Lasell College women's lacrosse team dropped a 16-12 non-conference decision to the visiting Owls of Westfield State University on Thursday afternoon at Grellier Field. The loss drops Lasell to 4-3 on the year, while Westfield State climbs to 2-4 overall.
Junior Bridget Doherty (Franklin, Mass.) paced the Lasers attack with four goals for the third consecutive contest, while junior Bridget Munnelly (Bellingham, Mass.) added two goals, two assists and six draw controls. Junior Ashlee Pechulis (Westfield, Mass.) and freshman Taylor Yandow (Moretown, Vt.) each tallied a pair a goals for Lasell, and senior April Canavan (Stonington, Conn.) led the defense with a game-high five groundballs and four caused turnovers. Senior keeper Alexa Katsigianis (Amherst, N.H.) took the loss in goal for Lasell, making three saves in 37 minutes of work, as sophomore Brooke Bergeron (Swampscott, Mass.) stopped six shots in relief.
Junior Meg Griffin (Granby, Conn.) notched a game-high seven points on four goals and three assists for Westfield State to go with team-highs of four groundballs and six draw controls. Junior Blair Smith (Milford, Mass.) chipped in three goals and one assists for the Owls, as junior Samantha Lungarini (Agawam, Mass.) added three goals and senior Stephanie Lenhardt (Duxbury, Mass.) posted two goals and an assist for the visitors. Junior Mimi Khampaeng (Hampden, Mass.) earned the win in the cage for Westfield, stopping 12 of the 24 shots on net.
Ashlee Pechulis opened the scoring in the 8th minute with an unassisted tally to put Lasell in front 1-0, but a 3-0 spurt by Westfield featuring goals by freshman Samantha Coyle (Weymouth, Mass.), Lungarini and Lendhardt gave the visitors a 3-0 lead with 19:17 to play in the opening half. A goal by Doherty drew Lasell within one at 4-3 with just under 13 minutes left, but Westfield pushed their lead to 7-3 with three straight goals before an unassisted goal by Lasell senior Toni Minelli (Newington, Conn.) cut the deficit to 7-4 heading into halftime.
Lasell opened the second period with goals from Munnelly and Doherty to pull within one at 7-6 in the first four minutes of the second stanza, before the Owls distanced themselves with a 7-2 run bookended by Griffin goals to take a 14-8 lead with just over ten minutes left to play. A shorthanded goal from Lasell senior Caitlyn Brecher (Cheshire, Conn.) followed by Doherty's third and fourth goals of the contest made it a 14-11 score with 4:30 remaining, but Lasell would get no closer as Westfield held on for a 16-12 victory.
The Lasers will return to Great Northeast Athletic Conference action on Saturday March 28th when they visit St. Joseph's College of Maine for a 4:30 p.m. start, while Westfield State will open MASCAC play with a 1:00 p.m. home matchup with the Worcester State Lancers.