Norwich and Lasell Compete for the GNAC Women’s Soccer Title

On a brisk November afternoon, four of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference’s top Women’s soccer teams faced off in hopes of reaching the final round to earn title of the GNAC Women’s Soccer Champions.

Among the four semi-finalists, it was the #2 Lasell Lasers (13-3-3) and #4 Norwich Cadets (13-7-0) that triumphed over #3 Emmanuel College and #8 St. Joseph – Connecticut to earn a spot on the championship field.

#2 Lasell College (13-3-3, GNAC 8-2-2)

Lasell’s journey to the GNAC championship game has been an exciting one with a huge win against their first conference opponent, the #1 ranked Suffolk University. One of the leaders on the Lasell team is Elizabeth Stickley who was recently honored as co-defensive player of the week by the Eastern College Athletic Conference for her stellar performance last week.  The Lasers are on quite the winning streak leading up to the finals match.  As of October 16^th, Lasell has gone undefeated for seven straight matches. It was in the quarterfinals round that Lasell found their stride as they defeated the #7 Emerson Lions with a final score of 2-0.

It was during the semifinals match-up between the Lasell and the third seeded St. Joseph of Connecticut that proved to be one of the most exciting games of the tournament. With 79 minutes of time expired, the score was locked at 0-0 as both Lasell and St. Joseph-CT continued to play competitively. As the Lasers gained possession of the ball, junior midfielder Jordynn Frollo took a clear shot right in the center of the goal and the St. Joseph’s goalkeeper Holly Mirabella was just too far away to make the save. Frollo’s goal was the only one of the match and secured Lasell to their first ever trip to the GNAC Championship Game.

#4 Norwich (13-7-0, GNAC 8-4)

The Norwich Women’s soccer team has also been impressive on their path to the GNAC Championship game taking place on Saturday, November 6^th.  In the quarterfinals, the Cadets defeated the #5 Albertus Magnus Falcons with a dominating score of 5-0.  For their semifinals match, Norwich faced the #8 Emmanuel Saints, who rallied to defeat the top seeded Suffolk Rams.  During the first half, Norwich was outshot by the Saints 18-5 but it was Cadets’ goalkeeper Nicki Hunsicker who kept her team alive with four significant saves.  In the second half, it seemed as though a different Norwich team surfaced as they outshot the Saints 16-7. 

Similar to the Lasell-St. Joseph match, it was in the 79^th minute that some of the exciting moments occurred. Norwich’s Lisa Esparza came in the far left corner and kicked the ball into the air for freshman Jackie Derocher to make a game-changing goal.  Not too long after, Brittany Casey of the Cadets also scored a goal to secure the 2-0 win over Emmanuel.

The GNAC Women’s Soccer finals match is set to take place on Saturday, November 6^th, 2010 at 12:00 PM.at Lasell College’s Taylor Field in Newton, Massachusetts.