Lasell Field Hockey falls to St. Joe’s (Maine) in GNAC Championship

STANDISH, Maine – Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College toppled #2-seeded Lasell College, 4-0, in the 2018 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Field Hockey Championship at the SJC Athletics Complex on Sunday afternoon.

With the win the Monks (19-1) claim their third-consecutive conference crown and have secured the GNAC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA DIII Field Hockey Tournament, which begins on Wednesday. The tournament bracket will be announced late Sunday evening. Lasell, which fell in the title game for the second year in a row, completes its season at 14-7.

Senior Julia Franzik (Wallingford, Conn.) and juniors Sam Taylor (Hanover, Mass.) and Mindy Esposito (Sunderland, Mass.) were named to the All-Tournament Team for Lasell.

Saint Joseph's grabbed an early lead when freshman Emma Rutledge (Alfred, Maine) netted her 17th goal of the season off an Arianna Kahler (Lisbon Falls, Maine) assist at the 3:19 mark.

Despite posting numerous scoring chances, the Monks did not add to their lead until the 56th minute when sophomore Alexandria Belaire (Greene, Maine) potted her 12th tally of the year off a penalty corner. Kahler was credited with an assist on the play.

St. Joe's managed to put the game well out of reach when junior Libby Pomerleau (Limerick, Maine) scored a pair of goals in a matter of two minutes and 31 seconds, starting with a strike off a Rutledge feed at the 61:02 mark. Pomerleau scored her 20th goal of the season in the 64th minute to account for the 4-0 final.

With her second tally of the game, Pomerleau broke the Monks' career goals record and now has 58 goals in 62 games over three seasons. Former standout Kayla Nowell '11 held the record previously and netted 57 markers in 75 games over four campaigns.

SJC senior Megan Baker (Gorham, Maine) posted four stops to notch the 57th victory - and 30th shutout – of her career. Lasell freshman Sofia Rodriguez (Peabody, Mass.) turned away six shots in the losing effort.

Saint Joseph's held considerable advantages in shots (23-5), shots on goal (11-4), and penalty corners (19-2) in the championship triumph.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

MVP - Libby Pomerleau, Saint Joseph's
Meghan Burke, Saint Joseph's
Maddy Beaulieu, Saint Joseph's
Alexandria Belaire, Saint Joseph's
Emma Rutledge, Saint Joseph's
Julia Franzik, Lasell
Sam Taylor, Lasell
Mindy Esposito, Lasell
Abby Ladd, Colby-Sawyer
Jordan Teixeira, Colby-Sawyer
Meghan Fontaine, Simmons
Ana Giarrusso, Simmons

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