MLAX: Norwich Tops Lasell in GNAC Championship Game, Advances to NCAA Tournament
Norwich University defeated defending GNAC champion Lasell on Saturday, 11-8, to cement its automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Courtesy of Norwich Athletics Communications
NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The 2022 Norwich University men's lacrosse defeated, defending Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) champion Lasell on Saturday, 11-8. With the win Norwich clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
This is the third GNAC Title under head coach Neal Anderson who coached the Cadets to the conference title in 2013 and 2019, previously. Norwich has made the past four conference title games and come out victorious in two.
Norwich's offense was led by Tournament MVP Callum Jones (Burlington, Ont.) who picked up five points with three goals and a pair of assists. Jack Anzalone (Ridgewood, N.J.) also had five points with a goal and four helpers, while Tyler Seidel (Centreville, Md.) had three points with a pair of goals and an assist. Parker Campbell (Rockaway, N.J.) had a goal and two assists.
Norwich held the Lasell to eight goals, as Andrew Vernon picked up his fourth win of the season in the cage. Vernon had 14 saves on 22 shots. Thomas Muraski (Keller, Texas) earned won 11 faceoffs for the Cadets picking up four ground balls.
The Cadets struck first, 1:09 into the opening quarter when Anzalone put the first shot of the game past the Lasell goalkeeper. The Lasers defense then locked down for the rest of the opening quarter, but Ryan Stone and Landon Reyes, were able to sneak a shot past Vernon to take a 2-1 lead.
Norwich leveled the game in the second quarter, after Matt Meehan (Norfolk, Mass.) scored his 12th goal of the season off an assist from Seidel. Reyes responded for the Lasers, but Jones and Seidel scored back to back goals, for the Cadets to lead 4-3. The Lasers then scored twice in a row, with Bash Cunningham and Jordan Hines scoring with under 1:30 remaining in the half.
The Cadets came out of the halftime break scoring three goals with Jake Andrews-Pestana (Napa, Calif.) striking back-to-back goals in 1:12 before Masaracchia scored with 10:10 on the clock in the third quarter. Lasell pulled within one after Anthony DeRosa struck to make the game 7-6 in favor of the Cadets, but Campbell scored to bring the Norwich lead back to two.
The Lasers then had a pair of goals over a span of 1:20 with Reyes and Cunningham being the combination. Jones gave the Cadets the lead heading into the fourth quarter, scoring with six seconds on the clock, with the Cadets leading 9-8.
In the fourth quarter the Cadets were able to hold the Lasers off the scoreboard, while adding another two goals closing out the win.
Along with Jones as Tournament MVP, Campbell, Mason McMahon (Norwich, Conn.), Muraski, Payden Masaracchia (Enola, Pa.) were all named to the All-Tournament Team.
Norwich (18-1, 10-0 GNAC) advance to the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament for the third time in program history. The full bracket will be revealed on Sunday, May 8 at 9 pm. You can watch the full bracket reveal on ncaa.com