Mount Ida Beats Lasell to Win GNAC Championship

Written by: Matt Cermola

NEWTON, MA- After jumping out to a 6-0 lead midway through the second quarter, Mount Ida held off a late surge by the Lasell College men's lacrosse team to beat the Lasers, 9-6, to win the inaugural Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship contest on Saturday afternoon.

Mount Ida dominated the first quarter, controlling the ball and pace of play, while netting four goals and not allowing any.

The second quarter began very similar to the first as Mount Ida netted two more goals, including Matt Savage's (Peabody, MA) second of the game against Lasell keeper Eric Walsh (Weymouth, MA). 

However, with just over a minute to go in the half, Lasell got on the board against Mount Ida keeper James McAllister (Smithfield, RI) when Dylan Gray (Bayport, NY) scored an unassisted goal putting the Lasers down 6-1 at the half

Mount Ida put the Lasers in a big hole in the early going of the second half when Dan Harrington (Westford, MA) and Brendan Hylan (Clinton, CT) scored just seven seconds apart to lengthen the Mustang's lead to 8-1.

From mid way through the third quarter on, Lasell hit its stride scoring five of the final six goals, including four consecutive goals that began with Gray's second of the game. Sean Speciale (Hillsborough, NJ), Nick Sampson (Londonderry, NH), and Chris Bulkley(Groton, CT) also scored during that stretch, closing the gap to 8-5.

Unfortunately, it was too little to late for the Lasers, as Paul Battapaglia (Clinton, CT) put the Mustangs up 9-5. Sampson would add his second goal of the game to end the scoring at 9-6.

Lasell outshot and won the face off battle over the Mustangs, but were beaten in ground balls and turnovers.

Lasell's season ends with an overall record of 9-8, with just one loss in regular season conference play (6-1) to Mount Ida.