2011 Men's Soccer Preview

The Lasell College men's soccer program produced its 10^th straight winning season in 2010, concluding the year with a 9-8-2 overall record including an outstanding, undefeated 7-0-2 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) slate.

The Lasers finished as the 2010 Regular season GNAC Champions heading into conference tournament play. They produced an exciting, late-goal 2-1 win over Johnson & Wales in the quarter final round of the tournament before their 2010 campaign was cut short by a tough 2-1 loss to eventual GNAC Tournament Champion Suffolk University in the semi-finals of the conference tournament.

The 2010 squad was led by GNAC Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference recipient, Dan Hatch (Avon, MA). Hatch tallied a team leading 11 goals on the season, which also ranked him at third in the GNAC. Hatch also notched the statistical columns nationally in four categories; 68^th in total goals (11), 98^th in goals per game (.58), 138^th in total points (23), and 166^th in points per game (1.21).

In addition to Hatch, three other Lasell men's soccer players were awarded All-Conference honors including returning First Team All-Conference goalkeeper Matthew Bruninghaus (Plymouth, MA), and third team honoree's senior defender Sean Fisher (Griswold, CT) and freshman midfielder Marcus Lopez (Barrigada, Guam).

Bruninghaus, a senior in the 2011 season, produced an outstanding season in net for the Lasers last year, securing the undefeated conference slate and finishing the season ranked in the top-five out of six statistical categories in the GNAC.  The senior netminder finished 3rd in goals against average (1.33), 2^nd in save percentage (.818), 4^th in saves (108), 5^th in saves per game (6.0), 2^nd in shutouts (5) and shutouts per game (.277). He also concluded the season ranked 71^st nationally in saves per game and 89^th in save percentage. 

The Lasers graduated four seniors from the successful 2010 roster and will bring back 15 veterans to the team, while adding eight newcomers.  Returners that are anticipated to start this season include Adam Luciano (Fairfield, CT), Dan Gleason (Weymouth, MA), and Isaac Soares (Somerset, MA) in the back field while Eric Fournier (Meriden, CT), Nery Guerra (Guatemala City, Guatemala), Evan Gaccione (Westerly, RI), and Jonathan Klippert (Cumberland, ME) will be forming the midfield. 

Sophomore Michael Skelton (Conway, NH) and first year Noel Rix (Rye, NH) will serve as the strikers in the first line up for the Lasers. Additional first year Lasers projected to make an impact will include goalkeeper Aren Moorman (Somerset, NJ), defenders Paulo Valentim (Allston, MA), Jose Ramirez (Nantucket, MA), and Ryan Montemurro (Meriden, CT), along with Peter Clark (Upton, MA) and Brennan Adams (Southbury, CT) in the midfield and at forward.

Lasell's 2011 campaign begins with the second annual Lasell College Kick Off Classic on September 3^rd when they will host Wheelock College at noon on Taylor Field.