FIELD HOCKEY: #6 Lasell Advances to GNAC Semis With OT Road Win Over #3 Saint Joseph's

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

Courtesy of Lasell Athletics Communications:

STANDISH, Maine - The #6 Lasell University field hockey team defeated the #3 Saint Joseph's College of Maine 2-1 in double overtime Saturday afternoon at the SJC Athletics Complex. The win moves the Lasers to 11-7 overall and advances the Lasers to the GNAC semi-final round. 

The Lasers got on the board in the 28^th minute when McKensie Lennon (Jamestown, RI) set up Sheridan Blaha (Waltham, MA) to make it 1-0 Lasers. With under two minutes to go in regulation, the Monks tied the game, in the 58^th minute when Maya Waryas (Bellows Falls, VT) found the back of the net for the hosts. 

After a scoreless first overt time, Lily Stark found the back of the net in the 70^th minute of double overtime to give the Lasers the win.

Lasell goalie Courtney Tello (Nashua, NH) finished the game with twelve saves and the Monk's goalie Kassidy Collins finished with 2 saves. 

Up next, the Lasers will travel to Simmons for a GNAC Semifinal game on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications:

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Senior Margaret Johnson recorded her second hat trick of the season in No. 1 seed Johnson & Wales (RI) University's 5-0 shutout win over No. 8 University of Saint Joseph (CT) Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Field Hockey Quarterfinal action at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex.

Graduate student Jillian Miele assisted on all five goals for the Wildcats (17-1), who will host a GNAC Semifinal game on Wednesday against No. 4 Colby-Sawyer College. Juniors Katie Sloan and Mya Bolk also found their way onto the scoresheet for JWU, which outshot the Blue Jays 29-0.

Johnson opened the scoring 70 seconds into the game when she knocked home a feed from Miele. She doubled the JWU lead 18 minutes later off a penalty corner when senior Kaitlyn Freeman slid the ball to Miele, who then fed Johnson for her 14th goal of the season. Sloan pushed the lead to 3-0 with a shot that went high into the corner to close the first-half scoring.

Johnson polished off the hat trick 1:03 into the second half before Bolk's third goal of 2022 extended the JWU lead to 5-0. Senior Madison Flaxington moved to 17-1 with the win.

Courtesy of Simmons Athletics Communications:

BRIGHTON, Mass. – No. 2 Simmons field hockey (15-2) advances to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinals picking up their 12^th shutout of the season following an 11-0 win over Anna Maria College (7-10) on Saturday morning. 

The Sharks set the tone of the game from the opening whistle. Halfway through the first quarter they looked poised to break the scoreless contest, being awarded a penalty corner, but senior Haley Dover's shot went wide of the cage. But that was the last time they would miss an opportunity to score.

Three minutes later, they were presented with another penalty corner opportunity and took advantage of it. Sophomore Hannah Groves knocked in the game's first goal on a pass from Anna Tedeschi to give the Sharks the 1-0 lead.

Just time expired to end the first quarter, the Sharks capitalized to take a two-goal lead. Coming up the far side of the field, sophomore Sydney Gonyea found graduate senior Riley Lambert breaking up the field and slid a pass in her direction. Lambert deked out the last Amcat defender before ripping a shot that caromed off the left post and into the cage. 

A minute into the second quarter, Lambert showed off her stick work again, coming up the middle of the field to bury the Sharks third goal into the lower left corner of the cage. Four minutes later, she registered a natural hat-trick scoring her third goal of the game to put Simmons up 4-0 and they were off to the races. Before the first half end, Tedeschi swatted in an entry pass from senior Maddie Beckwith to send Simmons into halftime intermission up by five. 

When the teams returned to the field at the start of the second half, Gonyea poked in the Sharks' sixth goal, cleaning up a rejected shot attempt by Lambert. Second later, Tedeschi tucked in her second goal of the game off a hard liner from Gonyea to put Simmons up 7-0. The Sharks went up by eight just before the end of the third quarter with Lambert's fourth goal of the game. 

Simmons scored three more times in the final quarter with goals from three different players. Both Tedeschi and Groves had a goal and an assist in the last 15 minutes, while Dover and scored her sixth goal of the season to send the Sharks onto the semifinals.

SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS

• Graduate senior Riley Lambert recorded a natural hat-trick, scoring three of three of the Sharks first four goals of the game. She finished the day with a career single-game high four goals and an assist for nine points.
• Sophomore forward Anna Tedeschi also posted a hat-trick, tallying three goals and two assists for eight points.
• Fellow sophomore Hanna Groves recorded a pair of goals and an assist, while classmate Sydney Gonyeaadded a goal and two assists.
• Senior Haley Dover was the fifth Shark to record a goal, scoring her sixth goal of the season in the fourth quarter.

GAME NOTES:

• The Sharks earned their 12^th shutout of the season to stay second amongst the entire NCAA in shutouts.

UP NEXT
No. 2 Simmons will host No. 6 Lasell University in the GNAC semifinals on Wednesday, November 2. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Courtesy of Colby-Sawyer Athletics Communications:

NEW LONDON, N.H.  – The Colby-Saywer Chargers field hockey team picked up a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) playoff victory on Saturday defeating Rivier University by a 2-0 final on Sally Shaw Veitch Track and Field. 

Rapid Recap:   

• The Chargers offense got things started in the first quarter with a pair of shots by senior Aoife Daly (Harwich, Mass.), but Olivia Boucher stayed strong in Raiders cage stopping both shots. First year Cecilia Ponzini (Windham, N.H.) laced a final shot in the first quarter, but Boucher made another save to keep it scoreless. In the second quarter the Chargers finally hit home as junior Sarah Babb (South Yarmouth, Mass.) sent a pass across the crease that found Daly's stick for the opening goal. The Raiders countered getting their first two shots on target, but were turned away by senior Lauren Wilkinson (Lynn, Mass.) as the Chargers held a 1-0 lead. 
• Colby-Sawyer and Rivier University continued to battle back and fourth in third quarter with first year Taylor Gaudette (North Conway, N.H.) getting the lone shots in the quarter with neither finding the net. In the final minute sophomore Courtney Larson(Auburn, Maine) picked up a green card to give the Raiders a man advantage for over a minute in the fourth quarter. The Chargers got a much needed insurance goal in the 53rd minute as Daly found sophomore Emma Webster (Campton, N.H.) at the post off a penalty corner to double the lead. The Raiders had one final attempt, but Wilkinson held strong making another save the end the game at 2-0. 

Player Spotlight:
"I think our passing game was special today", said senior Aoife Daly (Harwich, Mass.)."It was the best it has ever been and that and our communication led to the win. It means everything to pickup a win today and the goal is obviously to make it back to the championship."

Stats & Figures: 

• Daly scored her 15th goal of the season, while also dishing her 12th assist of the year to lead the scoring. With the three points Daly picks up her 42nd point of the season breaking the program record for most points in a season that she set last year.
• Webster added her fifth goal of the year, while Babb tallied her second assist of the year. 
• Wilkinson picked up her third shutout of the year, making three saves in her 13th win of the season.

Up Next:  
The Chargers will travel to Johnson & Wales University on Wednesday, November 2nd for the GNAC Semifinals.