Men's Lacrosse Opens GNAC Action with 12-4 Win over Rivier

NEWTON, Mass. (3/21/15) - Junior Andrew Suh (Colchester, Conn.) registered his team-leading tenth goal and second hat-trick of the spring to lead the Lasell College men's lacrosse team past Rivier University, 12-4, in the Lasers' first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest of the season on Saturday afternoon at Grellier Field. With the win Lasell improves to 4-2 on the year and 1-0 in conference action, while Rivier falls to 5-2 and 0-2 in GNAC play.

Senior Joe Cunning (Newton, Mass.) and junior Casey Sullivan (Quaker Hill, Conn.) both potted two goals apiece for the Lasers, while Sullivan also dished out three assists for a season-high five points this afternoon. Lasell received single markers from seniors Dylan Fernandes (Billerica, Mass.) and Aaron LaPorte (Gorham, Maine), junior Pat Egan (Glen Rock, N.J.) and sophomores Anthony Saitta (Derry, N.H.) and Connor Johnson (Hampstead, N.H.). Egan, Saitta, Fernandes and senior Robbie Palazzo (Redding, Conn.) all contributed to the win with one assist apiece.

Rivier freshmen Tyler Tambouris (Hooksett, N.H.) and William Ryan (Dorchester, Mass.) and juniors Cody Lynch (Salem, N.H.) and Kyle Graham (Londonderry, N.H.) all found the back of the cage once for the Raiders this afternoon. 

Lasell held a slim 36-33 margin in ground balls, posted a 43-26 differential in shots, went 13-for-20 in clearing attempts and 1-for-5 on the man-up advantage. River was 15-for-20 in transition and 8-for-20 in face-off opportunities.

Lasers' junior goalkeeper David Walen (Longmeadow, Mass.) evened his record to 2-2 this year with ten saves in front of the cage, while in the other crease junior Clark Plummer (Londonderry, N.H.) saved 21 shots this afternoon.

Lasell dominated the pace of the game in the first quarter as the Lasers tallied all six markers of the opening stanza. Egan began the scoring on a feed from Sullivan 1:20 into the contest, while this duo paired up again - this time opposite - as Sullivan potted his first marker from Egan just 1:15 later. The Lasers added three goals from the 9:14 mark to 8:09 (1:05 elapsed) as LaPorte and Fernandes each tallied unassisted goals and Fernades assisted on Sullivan's second of the game to take a 5-0 lead. Cunning scored Lasell's final marker of the quarter at 4:10 that made the score 6-0 after one.

Rivier got on the board to cut the Lasers' lead to 6-2 with back-to-back unassisted goals from Ryan and Graham to open play in the second quarter. Johnson and Suh answered the spurt for Lasell with under two minutes to play in the half, with goals that made the score 8-2 at the break. 

After Suh registered his second of the game via a pass from Saitta on the man-up advantage, both teams traded goals to close the game. Tambouris (9:07) and Lynch (4:47) scored for the visitors, while Saitta (8:00), Cunning (5:04) and Suh (:40) all tallied markers for Lasell for a final score of 12-4.

Defensively, Johnson scooped up a game-high seven ground balls, while senior Derek Marshall (Cumberland, R.I.) added five ground balls to the Lasers' total of 36. Freshman Brendan Dwyer (Northport, N.Y.) went 11-for-19 on face-off attempts that helped Lasell secure the victory.

Lasell travels to Emmanuel College on Tuesday, March 24 for a GNAC contest at 7:00 p.m., while Rivier hosts Becker College in out-of-league action on Wednesday, March 25 at 7:00 p.m.