Wildcats Down Men's Soccer in GNAC Action 4-0

NEWTON, Mass. (10/10/16) -- The Lasell College men's soccer team suffered a 4-0 defeat to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe Johnson & Wales University on Monday afternoon at Taylor Field.

The Lasers slip to 1-12 and 0-7 in GNAC play with the loss, while the Wildcats pitched their second straight shutout to improve to 8-2-4 and 4-1-1 in conference.

Junior Stephen Blood (Windsor, Conn.) led the Lasers in shots for the second time in three contests, totaling four, including one on goal. Five different players recorded Lasell's five shots on goal.

JWU held a 14-7 shot advantage and scored twice in each half en route to its fifth shutout of the season. Four different Wildcats posted goals in the contest, while freshman Jason Cruz (Providence, R.I.) assisted twice.

Lasell freshman goalkeeper Matteo Cugno (Medford, Mass.) made a pair of saves before the Wildcats got on the board in the 16th minute as sophomore Andrew Vecere (Wayne, N.J.) took advantage of a defensive miscue inside the box and deflected in his fifth goal of the season.

JWU quickly doubled its lead in the 20th minute as Cruz fed sophomore Teghan Drake (Waterbury, Vt.) at the top of the box where he struck his sixth goal past Cugno.

The Lasers were unable to take advantage of a pair of corner kicks in the first half, including one less than a minute into the contest. Cugno posted three of his six saves in the opening 45 minutes, while senior Jon Robbins (Berkley Heights, N.J.) matched that total in JWU's goal.

The visitors scored both of their second-half goals in a 19-second span within the 51st minute of play. Sophomore Riley McNicholas (Hopkinson, N.H.) netted his first goal of the season at the 50:15 mark, beating Cugno off Cruz's cross to the right post.

Yohann Assouramou (Cotonou, N.Y.) gave the Wildcats a 4-0 lead at 50:34, mere minutes after entering the game. The sophomore broke past his defender and stuck home his third goal this fall.

Lasell managed six shots after JWU's pair of second-half strikes, but could not put a ball past Robbins and junior Nicholas Mancini (Toms River, N.J.) who combined for five saves in the shutout. Robbins totaled four in the first 75-plus minutes, while Mancini posted one more in the final 14:38.

The Lasers return to action on Wednesday, October 12 for a 6:30 p.m. contest at non-conference opponent Keene State. The Wildcats have the remainder of this week off before hosting Albertus Magnus in a GNAC contest on Saturday, October 15 at 2:30 p.m.