Lasers' Updates 10-01-2009
October 1, 2009
Cross Country
The Lasers traveled to Rivier College in Nashua, New Hampshire this weekend to compete in the Rivier Invitational. The men's team took second place overall while the women's team placed seventh. Both teams supplied some excellent individual performances.
On the women's side, Meghan Missett shot ahead of the pack to take 3rd place overall in the race. Missett was pacing the entire group up through the last half of a mile. Missett completed the race in a time of 21:52.
Ariella Harrington was the second Lasell woman to cross the finish line. Harrington closed out in the 8th spot during the 5K with a time of 22:51.
Also completing the tough course for Lasell in the top 25 finishers was Stephanie Hauck who clocked a 24:55 and earned 23rd place.
The Men took a top finish from freshman Matthew Scully once again. Scully was the 8th place finisher and ran a time of 28:42. Senior Zachary Lambert was close behind, finishing in 10th place overall on the difficult 8K course. Lambert finished just 3 seconds behind Scully.
Also giving fine showings in the Rivier meet were freshmen Patrick Slight and Miguel Taveras. Both Slight and Taveras placed in the top 15 runners with times of 29:43 and 30:19 respectively.
The Lasers will compete again on Saturday, October 3rd at the Pop Crowell Invitational, hosted by Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.
Field Hockey
The Lasers went 3-1 this week, including a huge North Atlantic Conference win over Thomas College on Sunday.
Lasell started out with a 7-0 win over Regis on Tuesday, marking their first win of the 2009 season. Sara Jannuzzi was the big scorer of the day, finishing with five points, scoring two goals and adding an assist. Freshman forward Natasha Wood also scored two goals for four points, and Hannah Cebry, Kasey Looney, and Tia Pratt each recorded one goal for the Lasers. Erin Norton earned the shutout win in the net, making three saves in the process.
The Lasers followed that up with a second consecutive win against Wheelock College. The Lasers upset the Wildcats with a 4-1 win in which Jannuzzi once again proved to be a huge presence for Lasell. Jannuzzi scored two insurance goals for Lasell late in the second half to support goals from Looney and Concetta Nicoloro as the Lasers earned the non-conference victory. Christine Thornton made 14 saves in the net for Lasell in an impressive performance and allowed just one goal to slip by.
The Blue and White then traveled to Maine for a pair of conference matches over the weekend. The visitors dropped their first contest with the league leaders, UMaine Farmington 5-0, but then came back to secure a 3-1 victory at Thomas.
Thornton was once again huge in net for Lasell, making eight saves as Cebry, Nicoloro, and Pratt took care of the offensive end, scoring a goal apiece in the NAC triumph.
Lasell's Tiffany Potter is currently tied in leading the NAC in defensive saves with two total. Also earning conference recognition is Norton who is ranked 3rd for saves, with 43, and is first in saves per game, averaging 10.75. Thornton is ranked 3rd in saves per game, averaging 9.0.
Women's Volleyball
The Lasers went 1-2 this week, picking up a non-conference victory over Newbury College on Thursday before dropping two in a tri-match over the weekend with New England powerhouses Babson College and University of New England.
Amanda Major continues to be a defensive pro as she picked up 38 digs against Newbury in four sets. Elizabeth Nichols and Danielle Drapeau collected 12 and 10 kills apiece in the victory, with Drapeau hitting a team high .226 clip at the net.
Meghan Crozier kept up her ability as the setter dishing out assists to the Lasers as she pushed for 30 assists against the Nighthawks, also picking up 11 digs.
Facing Babson on Saturday, Major and Jenna-Lynn Geary combined for 29 digs and Crozier distributed 18 more helpers. Drapeau and Nichols followed up with six kills each in the Lasers attack and Chelsea Rohrig put down five more.
The Nor'Easters also proved to be a tough match for Lasell, beating the Lasers in three sets. Drapeau and Nichols found their way to a combined ten kills, while Crozier assisted 13 times. Geary and Major produced 31 digs together and Melanie Costa added two service aces.
Currently, Major is leading the league in digs, with 244 total on the season, and averaging 5.30 per set. Drapeau is seventh in the GNAC for kills, with 128 total and 2.78 per set, and Crozier is ranked 3rd in the conference with 305 total assists, averaging 6.63 per game.
Women's Soccer
The Lasers forced their fourth overtime of the season, and third double overtime, as they left Albertus Magnus in a 2-2 deadlock tie on Saturday.
Jessica Taylor scored both goals for the visitors, opening the game with a goal just two and a half minutes before the halftime break, and then bringing the Lasers ahead once more in the 56th minute. Unfortunately, the Falcons bounced back to score twice in the second and neither team found the back of the net in the extra sessions.
Molly Clarke and Alexis Vumbaco were the assists on Taylor's two goals.
The Lasers then remained undefeated in the GNAC when they faced St. Joseph's Connecticut on their home field. Lasell came from behind to score the game-tying goal with just 12 minutes left in regulation. Vumbaco took a deep shot from 30 yards out that drove its way into the Blue Jay's net. The game looked destined for overtime when freshman Reegan Brackett stepped up to a pass from Meredith Hessler and drilled a 25 yard shot high over St. Joe's goalkeeper's head with just seven seconds remaining before overtime. The thrilling game boosted the Lasers overall record to 4-2-2, and their GNAC mark to 3-0-2.
Lasell's goalkeeper Elizabeth Stickley made nine saves against St. Joe's and three against Albertus Magnus. Stickley is the only women's soccer player from Lasell to be ranked in the GNAC currently. She is ranked 1st in shutouts, with two, 7th in saves and saves per game with 41 total and 5.86 per game. She is also 7th in save percentage with a .804.
Men's Soccer
The Lasers beat GNAC opposition Albertus Magnus on Saturday 3-1 then tied with non-conference foes Bridgewater State on Wednesday. Lasell remains undefeated in the GNAC with a 2-0-1 record, and stands at 5-2-2 overall.
Shane Vinnicombe was awarded GNAC Player of the Week this week for scoring two goals against the Falcons in the Lasers win. Vinnicombe scored the initial Laser tally and then the insurance goal late in the 2nd half. Tholemson Francois scored the game-winner in the contest. Lasell's goalkeeper Julian Dutton made six saves in the net for the victors.
On Wednesday, the Lasers faced non-league opponent Bridgewater State College for the first time in Lasell's history. The two teams matched up well, but neither team claimed a win at the finale of the double-overtime contest.
The Lasers got out of the gate first as Francois tossed a pass to Mike Skelton at the top of the penalty box for an opening goal just under three minutes into the contest. The Lasers held that advantage for over 75 minutes before the Bears caught up. Neither team scored in the extra sessions.
This was the third overtime, and second double overtime, that Lasell has faced this season. Matthew Bruninghaus picked up four saves in the stalemate.
Dan Hatch is leading the Lasers in points currently with ten, he is also ranked 6th in the GNAC for the same statistic. Kyle Cronin and Paul Meucci are tied in 10th place in the conference for points, as they each stand at eight. The same three are also in an eight-way-tie for goals per game in the GNAC as they each have scored four goals this season.
Dutton tops the league in save percentage with a .843. He is also fourth in total saves with 43, averaging 7.17 per contest. He is first in the league for saves per game.