JWU, SJC to Host GNAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Semifinals on Friday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sixth-seeded Simmons College earned a 15-7 road win over No. 3 Lasell in the GNAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon. Simmons will now get set to travel to second-seeded Saint Joseph's of Maine on Friday night at 8:00 PM after the regular-season champion Monks handled seventh-seeded Norwich University, 17-6.

Top-seeded Johnson & Wales University, which went 9-0 in GNAC play, made quick work of eighth-seeded Rivier University, 23-5, and will now host fourth-seeded Mount Ida College in Friday's semis after the Mustangs held off No. 5 Emmanuel College, 12-9. 

#6 SIMMONS 15, #3 LASELL 7
NEWTON, Mass. - The sixth-seeded Simmons College women's lacrosse team limited host number three seed Lasell College to just one goal in the second half as part of a 15-7 upset victory this afternoon in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament Quarterfinals. The Sharks improve to 7-10 on the season, while the Lasers fall to 10-6.

Simmons advances to the Semifinals and will travel to Standish, Maine on Friday, May 5 to take on second-seeded Saint Joseph's College, a 17-6 winner over seventh-seeded Norwich University. 

The win is the first playoff victory for the Sharks since a 9-8 semifinal decision over Norwich University on April 26, 2013 and the first-ever triumph over Lasell in 12 matches.

Despite the Lasers owning a 7-2 advantage on draw controls and the teams putting up nearly even shot totals in the second half, the Simmons defense forced the Lasers into 14 turnovers and held them scoreless for the final 26:26 of play. The home team was just 3-7 on clear attempts in the period, while the Sharks' offense scored seven times. Simmons was nearly flawless, making good on 18 of 20 clear attempts for the game and made sure to extend its possessions in the offensive zone.

Four Sharks posted hat tricks on the day with sophomore midfielder Ana Giarrusso (Hingham, Mass.) registering a five-point effort on three goals and two assists to give her 52 points and Simmons a trio of 50-plus point scorers for the first time in program history. She also caused three turnovers to set the season record for caused turnovers with 29 to break a tie with Greer Gilbert's total of 26 from 2014 and 2015. In addition, she added three ground balls and two draw controls. Sophomore midfielder Elena Bragg (Belmont, Mass.) also netted three goals to give her 101 career points to become the seventh player in school history to reach the century mark. Bragg also added six draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers. Junior attacker Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) and sophomore Mallory Cottam (Hope, R.I.) each found the back of the net three times, while Cottam picked up a game-high five ground balls to go with a caused turnover and Fries came up with two ground balls and caused a turnover. Fries now has 50 goals for the season to mark just the third time in program annals that the Sharks boast a 50-goal scorer.

Junior goalie Chyenne Yeager (Indiana, Pa.) earned the victory with eight saves for Simmons.

Junior midfielder Taylor Yandow (Moretown, Vt.) scored four goals with one assist in addition to a game-high nine draw controls and added three caused turnovers and two ground balls to pace Lasell. The Lasers also received single scores from sophomore attacker Jillian Vergados (Tyngsboro, Mass.), sophomore attacker Vanessa Pino (Methuen, Mass.) and sophomore defender Megan Palumbo (Southington, Conn.). Bridget Delaney (Weymouth, Mass.) and Brooke Bergeron (Lynn, Mass.) split time in net for Lasell, with Delaney suffering the loss on three saves and eight goals against. Bergeron stopped two of nine shots in the second half.

Yandow tallied the first goal of the match just 36 seconds into the period for the Lasers, before the teams each traded a pair of goals with Pino scoring to give Lasell a 3-2 edge with 20:02 showing in the opening half. Giarrusso, first year attacker Kingsley Richards (Lexington, Mass.) and Cottam responded with three straight goals to give the Sharks a 5-3 margin with 10:20 left in the period. The flurry of goals proved to be pivotal with the visitors never trailing for the rest of the afternoon.

Yandow scored at 8:40 for Lasell, but Giarrusso and Fries countered for Simmons to increase its lead to 7-4 at the 7:46 mark. The Lasers closed out the half with two of the final three goals, including the final score of the half from Yandow at 3:19 to cut the deficit to 8-6 before heading to the intermission.

Cottam and Giarrusso each scored within the first three minutes of the second stanza to give the Sharks a 10-6 lead, before Yandow scored the final marker of the day for the hosts at 26:26 to pull them to within 10-7. 

While the Simmons defense was holding strong, the offense scored five unanswered goals to close out the contest, including two from Bragg, to secure the victory.

Courtesy of Simmons Athletics Communications.

#2 SAINT JOSEPH'S 17, #7 NORWICH 6
PORTLAND, Maine - #2 Saint Joseph's College (13-3, 8-1 GNAC) defeated #7 Norwich University (7-9, 3-6 GNAC), 17-6, in the first round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament at Deering Memorial Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the second round of the conference tourney for the fifth-consecutive season and will host #6 Simmons College (7-11, 3-6 GNAC) in a semifinal contest at Deering on Friday night at 8:00 PM. Simmons pulled off an upset victory over #3 Lasell College earlier today, as the Sharks cruised past the reigning GNAC Champions, 15-7, on their home turf to advance.

For Norwich, the loss signals the end of the 2017 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks put the Cadets on their heels almost immediately, as senior Jackie Wilson (Tiverton, R.I.) scored off a Samantha Medlin (Kingston, Mass.) feed just 29 seconds into the game. Leading by a 3-1 margin 10 minutes later, Saint Joseph's rattled off four unanswered strikes to assume a commanding 6-1 cushion with 15:29 before the break.

Trailing 10-3 going into the second stanza, the Cadets showed signs of life when senior Chapel Guarnieri (Pepperell, Mass.) netted an unassisted marker 23 seconds into the closing period, but the Monks put an end to the visitors' comeback hopes with five straight tallies en route to securing a 15-4 advantage with 12:14 remaining.

THE KEEPERS:

Saint Joseph's freshman Kaylin Mansir (West Gardiner, Maine) made seven saves in the victory while Norwich freshman Lawson Hayes (Moorestown, N.J.) stopped seven of the 24 shots she faced in a losing effort.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Wilson tallied five goals, two assists, seven ground balls, six draw controls, and a pair of caused turnovers
• Sophomore Kayla Kelly (York, Maine) scored four goals with an assist and two ground balls
• Junior Elyse Caiazzo (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) added three goals and an assist with four ground balls and a pair of draw controls
• Sophomore Kara Kelly (York, Maine) scored twice with an assist and two draw controls
• Junior Brianne Maloney (South Portland, Maine) picked up three ground balls with five caused turnovers

LEADERS – NORWICH:

• Sophomore Kathryn Albretsen (Cotuit, Mass.) scored three goals with four ground balls, and four draw controls
• Guarnieri netted two goals with four ground balls and two draw controls
• Freshman Rebecca Brown (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) chipped in with two ground balls and three caused turnovers

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 8-6 in the history of the series with Norwich University and has now defeated the Cadets in seven-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2014 campaign. The Monks defeated the Cadets earlier this season in Vermont (14-6) and also topped Norwich in the GNAC quarterfinal round exactly a year ago today (18-6).

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications.

#4 MOUNT IDA 12, #5 EMMANUEL 9
NEWTON, Mass. – Wednesday afternoon's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse quarterfinals game at Alumni Field was the first home game in Mount Ida program history, and the Mustangs were not about to let the experience pass them by.

The #4 seeded Mustangs got four goals apiece from senior Nicole Pavao (Peabody, Mass.) and sophomore Brooke Scahill (Ledyard, Conn.) and dispatched Emmanuel College 12-9 to earn a spot in Friday's semifinals.

It was the third consecutive year that the Mustangs and Saints have locked up in the playoffs, and Emmanuel has ended the Mustang's season for the last two times, but this time, with a home crowd behind them, Mount Ida never trailed and scored five straight goals in the first half to end the period with a 7-3 lead.

Scahill and Pavao each scored in the same minute to open the game, with Scahill collecting her 50^th goal of the year.

The Saints answered with goals by Savannah Lundwall (Fiskdale, Mass.) and Emily Baker (Stratham, N.H.), but Scahill re-gave the Mustangs the lead at 10:55 and Pavao completed her hat trick with the next two goals.

Six different players scored for the Saints, but Abaigeal Merrigan (Rye, N.H.), who had four markers, was the only Emmanuel player to find the back of the net twice.

Merrigan notched her first goal of the game with just six seconds to play in the first half, and then Stephanie Warn (Hanson, Mass.) and Merrigan scored on either side of a goal by Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) as the Saints cut the lead to 8-5.

After Scahill knocked home a free position shot, Emmanuel scored three straight goals to pull within one, with Kylie Rice (Bethlehem, Conn.), Andrea Liddell (Weymouth, Mass.) and Merrigan each completing free position shots of their own.

Hayley Napier (Fairhaven, Mass.) took a feed from Kelly with 14:30 to play and then four minutes later, Pavao scored an unassisted goal to restore a three-goal advantage.

Napier would add her second of the game in the final minute after Merrigan completed her scorecard with her fourth goal of the game at the 2:00 mark.

With a goal and an assist, Kelly reached an even 100 points for the year, expanding on her already-claimed single season scoring record for the program.

Lundwall led the Saints with seven draw controls, helping Emmanuel out-draw the Mustangs 12-10, despite six draws from Scahill.

Mount Ida freshman Jenessa Corbett (Westbrook, Maine) caused two turnovers and picked up a game-high nine ground balls.

Freshman netminder Jessica Henry (Wilbraham, Mass.) made 14 saves to improve to 11-4 on the year, while sophomore Bethany Bonilla (Milton, Mass.) stopped 18 shots by the Mustangs.

Mount Ida awaits the winner of the #1 Johnson & Wales vs #8 Rivier quarterfinal that will be played tonight in Providence.

Emmanuel, the number five seed in the tournament, ends their year with a record of 6-10.

Courtesy of Mount Ida Athletics Communications.

#1 JWU 23, #8 RIVIER 5
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The top scoring women's lacrosse team in the GNAC kept the offense going in the first round of the conference tournament. Johnson & Wales University moved on to the semifinals by defeating visiting Rivier, 23-5, on Wednesday.

Records:
Rivier: 5-12
Johnson & Wales: 14-4 

Statistical Leaders:
Alexandra Anton (JWU): 6 assists
Juliana Giello (JWU): 5 goals, 2 assists
Kayla Smith (JWU): 2 goals, 2 assists

Of Note:
The win was the Wildcats' 11th in a row and the 14 wins are the most in school history. 

 Johnson & Wales got out to a fast start as it scored the first six goals. Juliana Giello (Warwick, NY) and Allison Pazienski (New Hyde Park, NY) each scored twice during that stretch.

After Alyssa Ciszek got the Raiders on the board at the 17:41 mark, the Wildcats ended the half by scoring nine consecutive goals to take a 15-1 lead into the locker room. Eight different players scored for JWU during the run with Pazienski finding the back of the net twice.

Ten different Wildcats found the back of the net with eight players scoring multiple goals. Giello led all players with seven points on five goals with two assists. Alexandra Anton (Dix Hills, NY) tied a JWU playoff record with six assists.

Senior midfielder Lydia Knapp (Glens Falls, NY) scored two goals and won six draw controls. She moved up to sixth in NCAA history with 452 career draw controls.

Johnson & Wales won 19-of-29 draw controls to dictate the tempo. The Wildcats also had a 40-29 advantage in shots as well as a 27-21 margin for ground balls. Elizabeth Tonn (Wantagh, NY) led all players with five ground balls.

Up Next:
The Wildcats move on to host Mount Ida in the GNAC Tournament semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. 

Courtesy of JWU Athletics Communications.

Quarterfinals - Wednesday, May 3
Game 1: #1 JWU 23, #8 Rivier 5 | BOX
Game 2: #4 Mount Ida 12, #5 Emmanuel 9 | BOX
Game 3: #6 Simmons 15, #3 Lasell 7 | BOX
Game 4: #2 Saint Joseph's of Maine 17, #7 Norwich 6 | BOX

Semifinals - Friday, May 5
Game 5: #4 Mount Ida at #1 JWU - 7:00 PM
Game 6: #6 Simmons at #2 Saint Joseph's of Maine - 8:00 PM (@ Deering Stadium)

Championship - Sunday, May 7
Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

– #TheGNAC –