STANDISH, Maine - #3 Saint Joseph's College (14-4) blanked #6 Lasell University (7-11), 4-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Field Hockey Tournament Quarterfinal at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the win, Saint Joseph's moves on to the semifinal round of the GNAC tourney and will face off against the winner of the #2 Johnson & Wales / #7 Rivier quarterfinal, which begins at 2:00 PM today, on Wednesday, start time and location TBD.
For Lasell, the loss signals the end of the 2021 campaign.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
St. Joe's possessed the ball for the better part of the contest but would not score until the 25th minute, when senior Emma Rutledge (Alfred, Maine) tipped in an Aimee Adams (Gardiner, Maine) shot off a penalty corner attempt.
Junior Alexa Gutowski (Conway, N.H.) made it a 2-0 game four minutes later when she hit pay-dirt off a feed from Megan Mourmouras (Biddeford, Maine) in the crease on another penalty corner bid.
The Monks kicked off the second half scoring at the 34:50 mark when Rutledge and Adams connected again on a penalty corner attempt.
Freshman Abbie Jacques (Mount Vernon, Maine) completed the scoring docket when she netted her eighth goal of the season with just 43 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Junior Megan Quirion (Oakland, Maine) was credited with an assist on the play.
MILESTONE MET:
With her goal scored at the 24:25 mark, Rutledge became the third player in SJC field hockey history to score 50 career goals. Only two players, Libby Pomerleau '20 (65) and Kayla Nowell '11 (57) have scored more goals during their SJC career.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (25-4), shots on goal (15-3), and penalty corners (17-4) in the tourney triumph.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC freshman goalie Kassidy Collins (Gardiner, Maine) turned away all three shots she faced in the shutout performance while Lasell netminder Courtney Tello (Nashua, N.H.) posted 11 saves in the losing effort.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 22-4 in the history of the series with Lasell University and has now defeated the Lasers in seven-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2017 season.
