Lasers Advance to GNAC Semifinal Round
NEWTON, Mass. (4/22/15) - The No. 2 seeded Lasell College women's lacrosse team downed No. 7 seeded Norwich University, 18-6, in the quarterfinal round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) postseason tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Grellier Field. With the win, Lasell improves to 10-5 this spring, while Norwich's season comes to a close at a mark of 5-8.
Junior Bridget Doherty (Franklin, Mass.) registered her 100th career goal alongside four goals this afternoon. Seniors Caitlyn Brecher (Cheshire, Conn.) and Toni Minelli (Newington, Conn.) teamed up with Doherty for Lasers' offense with four goals apiece, while junior Ashlee Pechulis (Westfield, Conn.) and freshmen Taylor Yandow (Moretown, Vt.) both potted two goals. Doherty handed out four assists for a total of eight points, while Minelli and Brecher had three and two helpers on the day, respectively.
Norwich senior Gina Conroy (Amherst, N.H.) registered five of the Cadets' six goals this afternoon, while classmate Emma Smith (Patterson, N.Y.) tallied a single goal for the visitors.
Lasell opened the contest with seven straight goals over the first sixteen minutes of the game. Brecher, Minelli and Doherty all scored twice over the spurt, while freshman Danielle Chambrelli (Cheshire, Conn.) added a single goal on a feed from Minelli to spark the Lasers offense.
Conroy was the biggest contributing factor for the Cadets' offense as she found the back of the cage three times in the first stanza as the Lasers led 9-3 at the break.
Pechulis and Minelli went back-to-back to open the second half and extended Lasell's advantage to 11-3. Conroy netted the Cadets' only free position goal of the afternoon, but was answered by Minelli, with a free position goal for the Lasers 24-seconds later, at 27:27.
Lasell closed the contest on a 6-2 run, highlighted by Doherty's 100th career goal, an unassisted marker with 3:38 left on the clock.
In net for the Lasers, senior Alexa Katsigianis (Amherst, N.H.) picked up her tenth win of the season (10-5) with 13 saves, while in the other crease, junior Courtney Hudson (Burke, Va.) made one save and senior Irene Okubo (Chicago, Ill.) came off the bench to stop seven shots this afternoon.
Lasell outshot Norwich 33-23, held a 16-9 advantage in draw controls, maintained a 24-18 margin in ground balls and were 13-for-15 in clearing attempts, while Norwich was 11-for-20 in transition over the contest.
The Lasers will host No. 3 seeded Johnson and Wales University in the GNAC semifinal round slated for Friday, April 24 at 3:30 p.m. on Grellier Field.