Late Goal Lifts Lasell Women's Lacrosse to 15-14 GNAC Championship Win Over Simmons

Newton, Mass. – The Lasell College women's lacrosse team capped a perfect Great Northeast Athletic Conference regular season with a 15-14 victory over Simmons College in the conference championship game.Britney Wuorio (Bolton, Mass.) scored with 20 seconds remaining in the second half to break a 14-14 tie and send the Lasers to their first GNAC championship. Lasell heads into the NCAA tournament with a 15-3 record on the year while Simmons wraps up the 2013 campaign with a 10-4 record.

Wuorio led Lasell with five goals and one assist in the game, and Caitlyn Brecher (Cheshire, Conn.) added three goals and one assist. Ashley Slattery (Weymouth, Mass.) chipped in with two goals and three assists and Bridget Doherty(Franklin, Mass.) tallied three goals in the victory. Sammy Long (Staten Island, N.Y.) earned the victory in the cage, making six saves in the contest.

Rachel Wallace (Braintree, Mass.) netted five goals to pace the Sharks offense, Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.) added four goals and one assist, while Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) scored three times and Callie Warnock (Kingston, Mass.) scored a pair of goals on the afternoon. Crystal Derosier (Kingston, Mass.) stopped eight shots while taking the loss in the goal for Simmons College.

Britney Wuorio started the scoring with an unassisted goal two minutes into the opening half, and Oliveri evened the game at 1-1 with 26:28 remaining in the game. Slattery put Lasell back in front on a free position and Doherty took a feed from Slattery and fired it into the cage to give Lasell a 3-1 lead. Warnock brought Simmons back within a goal at 3-2 with 19:50 to play in the first half, but the Lasers answered with three unanswered goals to take a 6-2 lead with 8:55 remaining in the half.

Wallace netted a pair of goals thirty seconds apart, and Gilbert notched an unassisted goal with 5:56 remaining to bring Simmons back within a goal at 6-5. Wuorio scored to put Lasell back up by two goals, and consecutive goals by Brecher put Lasell back in control with a 9-5 lead. Wallace finished a feed in transition with five seconds remaining in the first half to cut the Lasell lead back to 9-6 heading into the half.

Simmons cut their deficit to two with a goal by Oliveri a minute and a half into the second half, but Lasell pushed their lead back to four goals at 11-7 with consecutive unassisted goals by Wuorio and Bridget Munnelly (Bellingham, Mass.) with 26:11 remaining in the game.

Simmons responded with three straight goals to cut the Lasell lead to 11-10 with 19:49 left in the contest. Rebecca Stanton (Agawam, Mass.) found a cutting Doherty on the crease whose shot found the back of the net and a Brecher tally on a pass from Slattery put Lasell on top 13-10 with ten minutes to play in the game. Gilbert and Wuorio traded goals leaving Lasell in front with just over five minutes to play.

The Sharks would not go quietly, as Oliveri scored on a free position attempt with 4:47 to play, and Rachel Wallace converted a transition opportunity with 2:09 left in the contest to make it a 14-13 game and set up the late game drama.

Simmons controlled the ensuing draw and after a retaining possession following a failed free position shot, Warnock beat Long in the top corner of the cage, tying the game at 14-14 with 44 seconds remaining.

Lasell came out of a timeout and Stanton collected the draw for the Lasers, and fed a cutting Caitlyn Brecher heading to the goal. Wuorio slipped a defender and curled in front of the net where Brecher fed her for the game winning goal with 20 seconds remaining in the game. Lasell grabbed the final draw of the game and ran out the final 20 seconds to secure their first GNAC championship in the program's history.

Lasell will wait to see where they are placed in the NCAA tournament when the draw is released on May 5^th as they make their inaugural appearance in the NCAA's. 

*Release courtesy of Lasell College Sports Information Dept.