NEWTON, Mass. – Senior forward Sheridan Blaha (Waltham, Mass.) scored 2:45 into overtime to lift Lasell University (10-7, 7-4 GNAC) past Saint Joseph's College (11-8, 8-3 GNAC), 2-1, in an evenly matched Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) field hockey match on Wednesday evening.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
Having already clinched the #3 seed in the GNAC Tournament, the Monks could not move up or down in the standings no matter today's result. The Lasers had secured a spot in the eight-team tourney but locked into the sixth spot with the win. As a result, these two teams will meet again on Saturday as Saint Joseph's will host Lasell in a GNAC quarterfinal matchup at 11:00 AM.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Lasers snapped a scoreless tie with three seconds left in the third quarter when Madison Raymond hit pay dirt. The Monks tied the contest at the 54:15 mark when freshman Maya Waryas (Bellows Falls, Vt.) scored off an Aimee Adams (Gardiner, Maine) assist.
The goal was the 22nd of the year for Waryas as the first-year standout has tied the Monks' record for tallies in a single season. Libby Pomerleau '20 set the mark originally with 22 strikes in 2017.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held narrow leads in shots (12-11) and penalty corners (7-5) while Lasell posted a 9-6 edge in shots on goal on the evening.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC sophomore Kassidy Collins (Gardiner, Maine) turned away seven shots in the setback while Lasell netminder Courtney Tello (Nashua, N.H.) posted four stops in the triumph.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the loss Saint Joseph's falls to 22-5 in the history of the series with Lasell University, a team the Monks had defeated in seven-consecutive meetings going into today's contest.
