Seeds Hold True in GNAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Quarterfinals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The top four seeds all earned victories at home on Tuesday as the 2016 GNAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament got underway with quarterfinal action. Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine handeld eighth-seeded Norwich University, 18-6, and fourth-seeded Lasell College topped fifth-seeded Simmons College, 15-5. Saint Joseph's will not host Lasell in the GNAC Semifinals on Thursday at 8:00 PM. 

Second-seeded Johnson & Wales University took care of business against seventh-seeded Rivier University, 16-9, and third-seeded Emmanuel College defeated sixth-seeded Mount Ida College, 17-5, as JWU now gets set to host Emmanuel on Thursday (8:00 PM) in the GNAC Semis.

#1 SAINT JOSEPH'S MAINE 18, #8 NORWICH 6
PORTLAND, Maine – Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (16-2, 9-0 GNAC) routed #8 Norwich University (6-10, 3-6 GNAC), 18-6, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament Quarterfinal at Deering Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night.

THE LEAD

Saint Joseph's opened the game with three goals in the first seven minutes – including a pair from junior Kelsey Dumond (Lewiston, Maine) – and forced running time when seniorElizabeth Elcock (Westwood, Mass.) netted her second of three first-half goals, making it a 12-2 game with 5:20 before the break. With the game well at hand, the Monks edged the Cadets in the second stanza by a 5-4 margin to account for the 18-6 final.

With the victory, Saint Joseph's – the reigning GNAC Champions – remain on track to defend the conference crown and will face #4 Lasell College in a rematch of the 2015 GNAC Championship in a conference semifinal at 8:00 PM on Thursday at Deering Memorial Stadium. For Norwich, the loss signals the end of the 2016 season.

In other GNAC Quarterfinal action tonight, #4 Lasell handled #5 Simmons College, 15-5, #2 Emmanuel College skated past #7 Mount Ida College, 17-5, and #3 Johnson & Wales topped #6 Rivier. Emmanuel is set to host Johnson & Wales in the semifinal round on Thursday evening.

SJC HIGHLIGHTS

• Junior Jackie Wilson (Tiverton, R.I.) tallied four goals, two assists, two ground balls, eight draw controls, and four caused turnovers
• Sophomore Elyse Caiazzo (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) registered four goals, two assists, three ground balls, four draw controls, and a pair of caused turnovers
• Elcock produced four goals and two assists with three ground balls
• Senior Mary Leasure (South Portland, Maine/McAuley) tied a program single-game record with seven assists and collected three ground balls
• Dumond recorded three goals and an assist with two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers
• Senior Kat Gadbois (Scarborough, Maine) netted a hat trick with three ground balls and four draw controls

NORWICH HIGHLIGHTS

• Junior Chapel Guarnieri (Pepperell, Mass.) scored three goals with two ground balls and three draw controls
• Kathryn Albretsen (Cotuit, Mass.), Larissa Gokey (St. Johnsbury, Vt.), and Holly Lutz (Hamburg, N.J.) also scored in the losing effort
• Junior defender Kasey Jacobs (Killingworth, Conn.) picked up four ground balls

THE KEEPERS

• SJC senior Michelle Cunha (Enfield, Conn.) made four stops to pick up the victory
• Norwich freshman Janice Bolton (Stow, Mass.) tallied eight saves and corralled six ground balls in the loss

TEAM STATS

Saint Joseph's held the advantage in shots (32-11), ground balls (23-17), draw controls (17-9), turnovers (13-19), and caused turnovers (14-5) on the evening. The Monks successfully cleared the ball out of their defensive end on seven of eight tries, while the Cadets went 4-17 on clearing attempts.

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications.

#2 JWU 16, #7 RIVIER 9
PROVIDENCE, RI– It took some time, but the Johnson & Wales University women's lacrosse team found its offense and advanced the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament. The Wildcats outscored visiting Rivier 10-4 in the second half as they prevailed 16-9.

Records:
Rivier: 6-11
Johnson & Wales: 12-5

JWU Statistical Leaders:
Lydia Knapp: 4 Goals, 1 Assists
Raquel Pederzani: 2 Goals, 3 Assists
Elizabeth Tonn: 3 Goals

Of Note:
It's the second year in a row that the Wildcats have advanced to the GNAC Semifinals. JWU hosts Emmanuel on Thursday at 7 p.m. Johnson & Wales beat the Saints, 16-10, on Saturday at Emmanuel.

The Wildcats got off to a slow start, only scoring six goals in the first half – the fewest goals JWU has scored in the opening 30 minutes since the St. Joseph's (ME) game on March 26. Rivier scored three-straight goals to take a 4-2 lead on a Paxton Larocque goal at the 13:54 mark.

Johnson & Wales came back to outscore the Raiders, 4-1, to claim a 6-5 lead going into the locker room. Elizabeth Tonn (Wantagh, NY) scored with just one second left in the half to give the Wildcats the lead.

JWU took control of the match by scoring four goals in the first three minutes of the second half to claim a 10-5 lead. Knapp scored two goals during that run and Tonn tallied her second of the day at the 15:28 mark to cap a 6-0 run to start the half.

Five different Wildcats found the back of the net, led by Knapp's four goals. Tonn was next with three while Raquel Pederzani (Coventry, RI), Gabrielle Vasile (Milford, Mass.) and Kayla Smith (Eastham, Mass.) tallied two goals each. Pederzani added three assists as did Marissa Hart (Cohoes, NY).

The Wildcats dominated the game offensively, outshooting the Raiders, 48-18. The 48 shots are a school record. Thanks to a season-high 16 draw controls won by Knapp – the most since she won 20 during the program's third game ever against Regis on March 6, 2014 – JWU had a 20-6 advantage in draw controls as well as a 27-11 edge in ground balls.

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications.

#3 EMMANUEL 17, #6 MOUNT IDA 5
BOSTON, Mass. - Senior attack Kristen Tuleja (Mansfield, Mass.) set a new Emmanuel single-game record with an 11-point night to lead the Emmanuel College women's lacrosse team to a 17-5 victory over Mount Ida in Tuesday night's Great Northeast Athletic Conference Quarterfinal at Clemente Field. The Saints advance to Thursday's semifinal contest at Johnson & Wales with a GNAC Championship berth on the line.

Tuleja scored six goals and tied a single-game record with five assists to run her season totals to 64 goals, 20 assists, and 84 points.

The Saints opened the game with the first six goals, as Tuleja and juniorSavannah Lundwall (Fiskdale, Mass.) each tallied a pair in the first six minutes. Tuleja also assisted on a goal by junior Emily Baker (Stratham, N.H.), and junior Amanda Cook (Saco, Me.) found the net off a helper from classmate Abaigeal Merrigan (Rye, N.H.).

For the rest of the half, Emmanuel answered each Mount Ida goals with a pair of markers to take a 12-3 lead into the break.

Freshman Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) scored twice in the half for the Mustangs and assisted on the other, a man-down strike by sophomore Hayley Napier (Fairhaven, Mass.).

In the same stretch, Tuleja picked up another goal, along with three assists, Baker scored twice, Lundwall added another, and sophomore Avery Yang(Lincoln, R.I.) scored her fourth of the year with an assist from classmate Stephanie Warn (Hanson, Mass.).

The second half featured a lot of Emmanuel possession time, but much less offensive aggression than the first, as the teams combined for just seven goals in 30 minutes.

Napier and Kelly both earned free position goals for the visitors, and the Saints goals went to Tuleja (2), Lundwall, Baker, and Merrigan.

Baker and Lundwall finished with four goals each for the third-seeded Saints, while Warn dished out three assists in the win. Senior goalkeeper Lauren White(Lynnfield, Mass.) needed just three saves to earn her 11th victory of the season.

Kelly (3G, 1A) and Napier (2G) were the only Mustangs to find their way onto the scoresheet in the loss. Freshman Jackie Tarsook (Derry, N.H.) played valiantly, making 11 saves, but saw her record drop to 4-13.

Courtesy of Emmanuel Athletics Communications.

#4 LASELL 15, #5 SIMMONS 5
AUBURNDALE, Mass. – Sophomore midfielder Taylor Yandow (Moretown, Vt.) tallied five goals to lead the Lasell College women's lacrosse team to a 15-5 victory over visiting Simmons College this afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinal match on Grellier Field.

The Lasers improve to 11-6 on the season and advance to the GNAC Semifinals for the fifth straight year and sixth time overall. Lasell will take on top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (Maine) on Thursday, May 5. The Sharks finish their season at 8-9.

The Lasers owned a 26-17 shot advantage, including 15-7 in the first half, leading to a 10-1 cushion after one half of play.

Yandow's five goals give her a team-high 41 for the season. She also added seven draw controls to go with a ground ball, while first year midfielder Jordan McComb (Cumberland, R.I.), classmate attacker Riley Musial (Clinton, Conn.), senior attacker Bridget Doherty (Franklin, Mass.) and classmate Lisi Anczok (Buffalo, N.Y.) all tallied a pair of scores for the home team. Anczok also added three ground balls and two caused turnovers and senior middie Ashley Pechulis (Westfield, Mass.) contributed with a goal, three caused turnovers, two ground balls and a draw control. Junior netminder Bridget Delaney (Weymouth, Mass.) made six saves to earn the victory for the Lasers.

Sophomore attacker Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) led Simmons with three points on two goals and an assist and added a pair of ground balls, a draw control and a caused turnover to her day for Simmons, while first year midfielder Elena Bragg (Belmont, Mass.) netted a pair of goals, won six draws and picked up three ground balls. First year attacker Missie Maiewski (Northampton, Mass.) registered a goal as well in addition to causing a pair of turnovers. Senior midfielder Ashley Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) closed out her career with three draw controls, two caused turnovers and a ground ball and will leave the Sharks as the fourth-leading goal scorer of all-time with 96 career markers. Senior midfielder Alexia Malone Oliver (Bristol, R.I.) recorded two ground balls, a pair of draw controls and caused a turnover in her career finale, while classmate Alexa Faria (Cumberland, R.I.) won a draw control in her final career match. First year goalie Kenzie Rogers (Bourne, Mass.) stopped six shots for the visitors.

Lasell scored the first five goals and the last five goals of the half to take a commanding 10-1 advantage at the intermission.

Yandow scored just 22 seconds into the period for the Lasers and Doherty and Anczok each followed with a pair of goals apiece to give Lasell a 5-0 lead with 21:17 to play in the half. Fries put Simmons on the board when she found the net on a free position shot with 19:55 showing on the first half clock to make it 5-1. Yandow scored three times over the next five-plus minutes to increase the Lasers' lead to 8-0 with 14:28 to go in the period. Senior attacker Stefanie Welch (Hancock, N.H.) and McComb each found the back of the net before the end of the period for Lasell.

The Lasers extended their cushion to 14-1 with the first four markers of the second half within a span of just under 13 minutes. Yandow, McComb, Pechulis and Musial all scored for the home squad.

Bragg ended the second-half scoring drought for the Sharks with a goal on a feed from sophomore attacker Kiera Kirkaldy (Middlebury, Vt.) at 15:48 of the second period. Fries found twine just 77 seconds for Simmons to notch her team-leading 41st goal of the year to cut the deficit to 14-3. Musial scored on a player advantage situation when Anczok fed her for the tally with 11:54 remaining in the contest. It was the 15th and final goal of the day for Lasell. The Sharks countered with the last two markers of the match and their season. Fries connected with Maiewski for her 25th season goal, before Bragg netted her 29th on a free position shot with 1:40 left in the game to pull the visitors to within 15-5.

Junior goalkeeper Bridget Delaney (Weymouth, Mass.) extended her overall record to 5-2 on the season with six saves in the full 60, while freshman Kenzie Rogers (Bourne, Mass.) finishes at 8-9, also with six stops in the effort.

Courtesy of Lasell Athletics Communications.

Quarterfinals - Tuesday, May 3
Game 1: #1 Saint Joseph's Maine 18, #8 Norwich 6 | BOX
Game 2: #4 Lasell 15, #5 Simmons 5 | BOX
Game 3: #3 Emmanuel 17, #6 Mount Ida 6 | BOX
Game 4: #2 Johnson & Wales 16, #7 Rivier 9 | BOX

Semifinals - Thursday, May 5
Game 5: #4 Lasell at #1 Saint Joseph's Maine - 8:00 PM
Game 6: #3 Emmanuel at #2 Johnson & Wales - 7:00 PM

Championship - Saturday, May 7
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner