NEWTON, MA – Lasell College (13-3-1, 10-0-1 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's College (14-3-0, 9-2-0 GNAC), 4-1, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer action on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, Lasell secures the top seed in the upcoming GNAC Tournament and will host #8 Johnson & Wales University in a quarterfinal round next Saturday. The Monks have clinched the #3 seed and will be hosting #6 Suffolk University at 2:30 PM in other quarterfinal action on Saturday.
Bridget Lynch (Dover, N.H.) scored a pair of early goals for Lasell, Kayla Lynch (Dover, N.H.) added a goal and an assist and senior Arianna DiOrio (Revere, Mass.) added a goal in her final regular season match at home.
Lauren Chouinard (Gorham, Maine) recorded an unassisted goal for the Monks in the contest.
Lasell wasted no time, pushing the ball up the field on a perfectly played through ball from Erin Smith (Gorham, Maine) that set up Kayla Lynch. Kayla took a couple of touches before crossing the ball to Bridget Lynch who netted the match's opening goal just 1:46 into the contest. Bridget Lynch then struck again with only 3:12 gone in the contest on an unassisted goal that gave Lasell a 2-0 with just over 85 minutes still left to play.
Lasell controlled the action in the opening 45 minutes, outshooting the Monks 9-1 and winning four corners to the visitors zero.
DiOrio scored on a rebound in the 60th minute when Saint Joseph's keeper Jaci Lorenzen (Windham, Maine) saved a Bridget Lynch shot but was unable to control the rebound, giving Lasell a 3-0 lead. An unassisted goal by Kayla Lynch in the 62nd minute put Lasell in front 4-0.
Chouinard got the visitors on the board in the 75th minute with her unassisted goal, but St. Joseph's was unable to threaten further, falling 4-1.
Leah Pappalardo (Whitman, Mass.) made one save in net for Lasell to earn the victory while Lorenzen made seven saves for Saint Joseph's while being credited with the loss.
With the result, Saint Joseph's falls to 5-3-2 in the history of the series with Lasell College. The Monks tied the Lasers, 1-1, last fall.
Lasell will close out the regular season with a non-conference road match at Rhode Island College on Wednesday October 30th at 4:00 p.m. Saint Joseph's will host the University of Southern Maine in their regular season finale at 3:00 p.m.
COURTESY OF LASELL COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
