Lasell Women’s Soccer Picked to Win Fourth Straight GNAC Title

BOSTON, Mass. – Coming off a three-peat of GNAC Women's Soccer championships and an NCAA tournament victory last season over Amherst College, the Lasell College women's soccer team has been selected as the 2013 pre-season favorite in this year's GNAC Coaches Poll, receiving a total of 149 points and six first place votes. Just behind in second was University of Saint Joseph (CT) with 130 points and four first place votes while Simmons College rounded out the top three with 119 points and one first place vote. Emmanuel College was slated to finish fourth with 109 points while Albertus Magnus College finished with 104 points in fifth place to round out the top five.

The Lasers return the reigning GNAC Player of the Year, Bridget Lynch, who scored a league-best 24 goals to go along with six assists for 54 total points which also topped the conference. Also returning is Lynch's twin sister, Kayla, who was an equally potent second scoring option with 14 goals on the year to rank tied for second in the league. Returning in net for Lasell will be Leah Pappalardo who posted an .844 save percentage to go along with a 1.10 goals against average last year as a sophomore.

After finishing the 2012 season with the regular-season crown, the University of Saint Joseph (CT) squad will look to avenge an early exit from the GNAC tourney a year ago. Senior Patrician Nolan returns after an All-Conference junior campaign that saw her register a team-high 37 points on 14 goals and nine assists. Sophomore keeper Melissa Dodge is back between the pipes after an outstanding rookie campaign in which she posted a league-best 0.48 goals against average which also ranked 16^th in the nation among NCAA Division III goalkeepers.

Simmons will look to make some noise after falling in the GNAC title game a year ago. The Sharks lost All-Conference midfielder Justine Beauchamp to graduation but return junior forward Keri Acheson who ranked second on the team in goals last year with six scores. Also returning is sophomore goalie duo of Amber Verrill and Brianna Hayes who combined to post a 1.59 goals against average last year while registering an .829 save percentage.

Emmanuel will look to return to the top half of the GNAC after a few rebuilding seasons. The Saints will look to senior forward Lindsey Garvey who finished last year with 10 goals and a league-best 10 assists.

Albertus Magnus will look to build off a strong 2012 campaign in which they posted a 7-3-2 conference mark.

Suffolk University and Johnson & Wales University both earned 72 total points in the poll to come in a two-way tie for sixth place while Saint Joseph's College (ME) was in eighth place with 66 points. Norwich University was just below them in ninth in the poll with 57 points.

Rounding out the 2013 poll, Rivier University registered 32 points in 10^th place. Mount Ida College was in 11^th place with 27 points and Anna Maria College ranked 12^th with 16 points.

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division III conference made up of 12 institutions with nine associate members. In 2013-14, the GNAC will sponsor championships in 17 sports for men and women. The GNAC also enjoys outstanding professional partnerships with Children's Hospital Sports Medicine Division, Doubletree Hotels, Fenway Printers, New Balance, Reading Trophy and Presto Sports.