Men’s Lacrosse Knocked Off by Becker in GNAC Quarterfinals

Newton, Mass. (4/23/13) – The Lasell College men's lacrosse team was upset in the quarterfinals of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, 12-8 by Becker College on Tuesday afternoon at Grellier Field. Lasell closes out their season at 8-8 while Becker improved to 6-10 for the year.

Casey Sullivan (Waterford, Conn.) tallied three goals and one assist for the Lasers, Robbie Palazzo (Redding, Conn.) added two goals and Andy Puopolo (Duxbury, Mass.) chipped in one goal and a pair of assists. David Walen (Longmeadow, Mass.) made ten saves while taking the loss in goal for Lasell.

John  DeAngelis (Swampscott, Mass.) scored four times and added one assist to pace the Hawks attack, Joe Ignani (Kingston, Mass.) tallied three times and dished out a pair of assists, and Jeff Petersen (Syracuse, N.Y.) contributed three goals to the Becker offense. Michael Munoz (Avon, Conn.) made six saves to earn the victory in goal for Becker.

Lasell opened the scoring thirty seconds into the game when Andy Puopolo found Robbie Palazzo on the crease to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage. Becker struck back two minutes later when David Deschenes (Gales Ferry, Conn.) beat Walen on a feed from DeAngelis tying the game at 1-1. An unassisted goal by the Hawks Ignani put the visitors in front 2-1 with 11:30 remaining in the opening quarter.

Sullivan netted his first goal of the afternoon for Lasell with 6:54 to play in the opening quarter, tying the game at 2-2, and Ignani and Sullivan traded goals in the final minute of the opening period sending the two teams into the second quarter knotted at 3-3.

DeAngelis notched his name into the scoring column three minutes into the second quarter putting the Hawks ahead 4-3, but Puopolo's unassisted tally with 7:27 to play in the half brought the teams level at 4-4.

Becker broke the tie, going on a three goal run, using a DeAngelis goal and a pair of scored from Petersen to take a 7-4 lead with 2:14 left in the first half. Casey Sullivan scored with 41 seconds to play in the half to cut the Lasers deficit to 7-5, and James Finn (Quincy, Mass.) scooped up the ensuing face-off and beat the defense in transition to net another goal for the Lasers with 32 seconds remaining in the half to bring Lasell within a goal at 7-6. Dylan Fernandes (Billerica, Mass.) scored his lone goal of the game with seconds remaining in the half to tie the game at 7-7 heading into the intermission.

After a scoreless eight-minute stretch to open the third quarter, Petersen scored on a Deschenes feed that put Becker in front 8-7 with 7:05 to play in the quarter. DeAngelis and Ignani netted goals a minute and a half apart putting Becker in front 10-7 with 3:47 left in the third period. Puopolo found Palazzo for the second time in the contest with 56 seconds on the clock to cut the Lasell deficit to 10-8 heading into the final period.

DeAngelis found the back of the net on a feed from Ignani with 12:19 to play in the contest, stretching the visitors lead to 11-8. Lasell was unable to find the range in their offensive third of the field, and Becker's Cody Leary (Sandwich, Mass.) scored with 46 seconds to play for the final 12-8 margin.

Becker will take on the winner of the Mount Ida vs. Rivier match-up in the GNAC semifinals in Thursday April 25^th.