STANDISH, ME – Lasell College (3-3, 2-0 GNAC) utilized on offensive burst mid-way through the second half to defeat Saint Joseph's (4-3, 1-1), 3-0, in a GNAC Men's Soccer contest at Westerlea Way Field Saturday afternoon.
Despite several excellent scoring opportunities by both sides, neither club managed to find the netting until the Lasers scored three goals over a six minute span beginning in the 59th minute. Nery Guerra '14 (Guatemala) broke the scoreless tie with a header off an Isaac Soares '13 (Somerset, MA) corner kick 13:03 into the second stanza.
With momentum turning in the Lasers' favor, 2009 First Team All-GNAC forward Dan Hatch '11 (Avon, MA) took advantage of the Monks' defensive breakdowns to score the final two tallies of the game. The senior made his way into the box, clanged a shot off the right post and the rebound bounded right back to him for an easy finish in the 61st minute.
Less than four minutes later, Hatch dangled his way through the SJC backfield after collecting a pass from Marcus Lopez '14 (Barrigada, Guam) and beat Monks keeper Nick Campasano '12 (Goffstown, NH), who left the goalmouth to challenge, with a shot to the top right corner.
Campasano and Lasell keeper Matthew Bruninghaus '12 (Plymouth, MA) both made seven saves on the day and Monks forward Jack LaFreniere '13 (Alton, NH), who seemed tireless, nearly put the Royal Blue on the board on several occasions and notched two shots on net in the loss.
The flow of the game could be described as choppy, at best, as the teams combined for a whopping 10 yellow cards and 33 fouls in the budding-rivalry match. Lasell accounted for seven of the yellows and was slapped with two red cards.
Lasell held advantages in shots (25-19), shots on goal (10-7) and corner kicks (5-3) in the triumph. With the loss, St. Joe's falls to 1-6 in the history of the matchup against the Lasers.
As the final athletic contest of Homecoming Saturday at Saint Joseph's, an estimated 300 fans flooded the hill on the south side of the soccer pitch to enjoy the action. Over 50 SJC Athletics alumni returned to participate in various sporting activities throughout the day.
St. Joe's will return to action tomorrow in a home contest against Amherst College at 3:00 PM, while Lasell will play host to Rivier College Saturday, September 25th at 12:00 PM.
