Newton, Mass. – Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) playoff action continues Saturday, November 6th, when the second seed Lasell University Lasers women's soccer team travel to top-seeded Johnson & Wales for the GNAC championship.
The second-seeded Lasers advanced to the GNAC semifinals for the 11th straight tournament with a thrilling 1-0 victory over seventh-seeded Regis College last Saturday at rainy Brandeis University. Freshman Priscilla Martinelli (Plymouth, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal with eight minutes to go in regulation play and senior Angela Sanzari (North Haven, Conn.) made two saves to preserve the shutout.
The Lasers advanced to the GNAC championship for the tenth time since joining the GNAC with a commanding 2-0 victory over third-seeded Saint Joseph's College last Wednesday at Taylor Field. Freshman Alyssa DeOliveira (East Providence, R.I.) scored the first goal and junior Alexys Suojanen (Windsor Locks, Conn.) scored the second goal, all of which were in the first half while Sanzari make three saves to preserve the shutout.
The Lasers (13-4, 11-2) will travel to top-seeded Johnson & Wales University (16-3-2, 12-0-1) Saturday for the GNAC championship at 7:00 p.m. at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex. JWU got to the championship by defeating eighth-seeded Emmanuel College in the quarterfinal, 3-0, and University of Saint Joseph of Connecticut in the semifinal, 3-0.
The last time Lasell and JWU met was a regular season contest on October 16, when JWU topped the Lasers, 3-1, at Taylor Field.
Lasell is 10-4-2 overall, including playoff matchups against the Wildcats.
The last time these two sides met in the playoffs was on November 5, 2019, for the GNAC semifinal where top-seeded JWU won by a score of 3-0 over the Lasers.
Johnson & Wales is looking for its second straight GNAC title after winning in 2019 over Saint Joe's of Maine. Lasell is looking for its first title since 2017 when they won eight straight titles.