Tomasetti Gives Men's Lacrosse the Go-Ahead to Defeat Norwich 9-8

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Lasell College men's lacrosse defeated Norwich University 9-8 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest on Wednesday evening at Sabine Field. The Lasers improve to 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the GNAC, while the cadets fall to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in conference play.

For the Lasers, junior Andrew Suh (Colchester, Conn.) tallied three goals, while sophomore Josh Gallant (Hampstead, N.H.) added two goals. Senior Aaron LaPorte (Gorham, Maine), junior Jason Donovan (Weymouth, Mass.) and freshman Austin Tomasetti (Elmsford, N.Y.) contributed a goal and picked up an assist each with junior Casey Sullivan (Quaker Hill, Conn.) added a single marker. 

Senior Victor Bill (Nazareth, Pa.), junior Matt Flaherty (Portland, Maine) and freshman Nolan Aurelia (Stratford, Conn.) led the Maroon and Gold with two goals apiece. Senior Seth Fuller (Wheaton, Ill.) and freshman Josh Jenkins (Centennial, Colo.) contributed a goal and chipped in with an assist each.

Lasell would get on the board first, scoring four straight goals in a span of 10 minutes with Suh scoring twice before Norwich scored its first point on a goal from Flaherty at the 2:47 mark of the first half. The Cadets would win the faceoff and convert the possession into a goal from Aurelia 36 seconds later to make it 4-2 after the first period. 

The Cadets would continue to find the back of the net in the second quarter, scoring three straight goals. After seven minutes of back-and-forth battle, Jenkins would score unassisted at the 8:09 mark before Norwich took advantage of a man-up opportunity as Bill dodged past a pair of Laser defenders before putting the ball into the back of the net to tie up the game at four goals apiece. Norwich would take its first lead of the game less than four minutes later as Flathery scored his second goal of the game on an assist from Jenkins with just 21 seconds in the stanza into what ended up being the 5-4 score at the half in favor of Norwich. 

By then, over two inches of snow had piled up onto the field, affecting play throughout the second half. However, Norwich did not let the white powder slow them down as Fuller found the back of the net via a pass from freshman Ian Kennedy (Gloucester, Mass.) to extend the Cadets' lead to two, 6-4. Both teams would trade a pair of goals in the next six minutes, with Lasell scoring on a man-up opportunity at the 3:05 mark before the third period ended with Norwich still ahead, 8-6. 

The Lasers and Cadets continued to weather the storm heading into the fourth period as Suh scored Lasell's seventh goal at the 10:02 mark before Gallant knotted the contest three minutes later for the 8-8 score with seven minutes remaining in the game. Lasell would win the next faceoff and quickly called for time to formulate a play that resulted in a goal 30 seconds later when Tomasetti scored off an assist from Donovan to put the Lasers ahead, 9-8. 

With 6:19 remaining on the clock, Norwich would lose the faceoff attempt to Lasell as the Lasers brought it into their offensive end, looking to extend the lead, only to hit a brick wall from Norwich's goalkeeper, Ryan Fecteau (Danvers, Mass.) as the Cadets carried the ball down the field before calling for a timeout with 32 seconds remaining in the game. Norwich would formulate the tying goal into action, but could only pull off one shot that went wide before turning the ball over as Lasell ran the clock out for the 9-8 victory. 

Norwich outshot Lasell 31-29 and held a 47-34 groundball advantage. The Cadets went 17-22 on the face with senior Andrew Bracy (Carthage, N.Y.) winning all 17 of the 21 attempts, and went 21-26 on clears. 

Norwich's goaltender Fecteau made 10 saves in the loss. Lasell's junior goalkeeper David Walen (Longmeadow, Mass.) turned away six shots for the win. 

The Lasers will be in action on Saturday, April 11 when host face Anna Maria starting at 12:00 p.m. to honor this year's graduating seniors. The Cadets also resume home-contest play on Saturday when they host Rivier at 4:00 p.m.

Recap Courtesy of Norwich University Sports Information