Men's Lacrosse Knocks off Rivier in GNAC Quarterfinal 21-8

NEWTON, Mass. (4/21/15) The Lasell College men's lacrosse team defeated Rivier University 21-8 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) quarterfinal round Tuesday afternoon at Grellier Field. The Lasers move up to 9-6 overall, while the Raiders close out their 2015 campaign at 12-5. 

Nine Lasers found the back of the cage in the victory, highlighted by junior Casey Sullivan (Quaker Hill, Conn.), who recorded his third straight hat trick with a game-high five goals and three assists.  Junior Pat Egan (Glen Rock, N.J.) and senior Dylan Fernandes (Billerica, Mass.) each chipped in with a trio of goals, while seniors Aaron LaPorte (Gorham, Maine) and Robbie Palazzo (Redding, Conn.) and sophomores Anthony Saitta (Derry, N.H.) and Josh Gallant (Hampstead, N.H.) tallied two goals in the win.  

Freshman William Ryan (Dorchester, Mass.) led the attack for the Raiders with three goals, while classmate Joe Kellend (Watertown, Mass.) and junior Cody Lynch (Salem, N.H.) contributed with two apiece. Freshman Tyler Tambouris (Hooksett, N.H.) additionally added a single marker for the Raiders in the effort.   

The Lasers jumped to an early 3-0 lead before Rivier was able to find the back of the net at 6:49 via a rocket from Lynch.  Freshman Brendan Dwyer (Northport, N.Y.) grabbed the ball from the faceoff circle to put the Lasers in scoring position, where senior Jason Donovan (Weymouth, Mass.) found Gallant to give the hosts a 4-1 advantage. Kelland scooped up the ground ball in the Raiders' offensive zone, where he netted the final goal of the quarter to trail Lasell 5-2.

Ryan capitalized on the man-up opportunity early into the half for the Raiders before scoring their fourth goal to cut the deficit to one point, 5-4. Dwyer continued to rule the faceoff circle where Gallant then fired the ball past Rivier's net minder.  Palazzo shut out the half with a goal assisted by Sullivan to boost the Lasers up 11-5 heading into the break. 

The Lasers scored their 12^th point of the game 30 seconds into the second stanza, before Sullivan used the man-up opportunity for the 13-5 lead. Sullivan repeated the offensive surge with 21 seconds left, putting the score at 18-7 heading into the final 15 minutes of play. 

Both teams traded goals in the fourth minute of the closing quarter, however, the Lasers held Rivier at eight, to close the game at 21-8.

Junior keeper David Walen (Longmeadow, Mass.) collected 13 saves on the day, evening his record to 6-6 overall. Junior Clark Plummer (Londonderry, N.H.) suffered the loss (12-5) in between the pipes for the Raiders, stopping 16 of 37 shots faced on net.

The Lasers controlled the faceoff circle 17-14 - highlighted by a 16-26 performance from Dwyer - while also dominating the Raiders in groundballs 44-27.

Lasell will travel to Boston, Mass. for the GNAC semifinal round on Thursday, April 23 for a game under the lights with Emmanuel College at 7:00 p.m.