MSOC: Lasell to Square off With Rivier in GNAC Play-In Game
Newton, MA - The Lasell Men's Soccer team earned the No. 10 seed in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament after compiling an in-conference record of 4-6-4 and a season record of 4-10-4. They will be traveling to face the No. 7 seed Rivier in Nashua, NH in the Play-In round on Halloween night at 7 PM at Merrill Field.
The Lasers have now clinched a GNAC Play-In berth for the second year in a row. The Lasers came into the final four games of the season with a record of 1-9-4, and were outside of the playoff picture looking in. However, a big senior day victory over the Amcats of Anna Maria (3-2) shifted their momentum. They would carry this into their following matchup versus Colby-Sawyer College to earn their second consecutive win. They would then fall to a very tough Albertus Magnus squad before capping off the season Tuesday with a 4-0 victory over Elms which was their largest win of the season, and the largest win by the Lasell men's soccer team dating back to October 2022. The late surge by the Lasers winning three of their last four games allowed them to capture the final play-in spot.
First-year head coach Luis Cabral was able to help lead the Lasers squad to an impressive home record of 4-2-2. While the Lasers struggled to win on the road, the 4 home wins are the most dating back to the 2019 season. Under Cabral, they were also able to improve on their goal-scoring total as they netted 5 more goals than the previous 2023 season. This was partly fueled by graduate transfer Pumi Maphumulo who led the Lasers in goals on the season with 10, including an impressive hat trick in a win over Mitchell College. Junior Dillon Winkelmann also had an impressive season as he notched 7 goals for the Lasers to go along with a team-leading 4 assists. Both Maphumulo (22) and Winkelmann (18) finished in the top 7 in the conference in total points on the season. On the defensive side of the ball, the net was primarily protected by senior goalie Antonio Centracchio who had 60 saves on the year including 1 shutout.
Rivier comes into the GNAC playoffs boasting a winning record on the season, finishing 7-5-6. They had impressive wins over No. 4 seeded Emmanuel and also drew ties with No. 2 ranked Johnson & Wales and No. 1 ranked Saint Joseph (CT). Out of conference, they went 2-1-1 with a record-breaking goal-scoring game in an 11-0 win over VTSU-London. Top players for the Raiders include Alejandro Quezada who led the team in points as a freshman with 4 goals and 4 assists on the year. Thomas Hennessey also cracked the double digits in points (11) on the year in a balanced Rivier attack. The net for the Raiders was protected by Logan Clough who had 81 saves on the season as well as 6 shutouts over 17 games started.
The winner of Thursday's matchup will advance to the GNAC Quarterfinals which will be hosted at No. 2 Albertus Magnus on Saturday, November 2nd at 1 PM at Celentano Field.