Lasers Fall to Colonels in Season Opener

NEWTON, MA-- The Lasell College women's lacrosse team fell to visiting Curry College, 23-7, on Thursday afternoon at Grellier Field.  The game marked the shared season opener for the non-conference regional rivals.

Curry's senior attack Ashley Hansbury (Chelmsford, MA) was unstoppable in the contest, leading all scorers by tallying nine points, scoring seven goals and adding two assists.   The Colonels also received five goals from junior attack Elissa Bulgatz (North Brook, IL) and four each from freshman center Ana Bottary (Hull, MA) and senior midfielder Rachel Robichaud (Billerica, MA).

For the Lasers, junior midfielder Tina Canavan (Stonington, CT) and senior midfielder Andrea Ward (Hingham, MA) were the top point scorers, each producing three total points off of two goals and one assist.  Junior midfielder Chelsea Caren (Redding, CT) also contributed two goals for Lasell, and freshman midfielder Rececca Stanton (Agawam, MA) notched one goal.

Canavan got Lasell on the scoreboard first, at 27:29, after Ward lobbed a pass from behind the cage and Canavan swatted the ball into the Colonels net. Just over a minute later, Hansbury evened the score with an unassisted rocket, launched down an open lane from the left field.  Hansbury then put the Colonels ahead on her next mark, only five minutes later, after she broke away from the midfield and went the distance for a one-on-one with Lasell's goalkeeper Kristin Coderre (Monson, MA).

Curry went on a 4-0 run over the next four minutes before Caren broke up the streak  by connecting on a penalty shot at 13:59 for Lasell, bringing the score to 5-2.  Canavan and Stanton each put unassisted goals past Curry's net minder Maria Lynch (Billerica, MA), but the Colonels still entered halftime with a significant 12-4 edge.

Hansbury opened the second half with her fourth goal of the game as she sliced through traffic and shot through to the low corner of the net.  A free possession goal by Robichaud launched the visitors to a ten point cushion, 14-4, with five minutes elapsed in the second half.

Ward recorded her first goal with a shot that ricocheted off the post and into the Colonel's net, at 24:42, and her second mark came off a fast break play from near midfield to score at the 12 minute mark.  Bottary tallied the final two goals of the game, one on a penalty shot, and the other off a pass from Hansbury.

Lasell was outshot by a crucial 53-13 margin.  Coderre made 20 saves in the Lasers net, rejecting 13 first half and seven second half Colonel shots.  Lynch earned the win and made two saves in Curry's net.

Curry (1-0) will host Keene State College in their next contest on March 11th at 4:00 p.m.   Lasell (0-1) will travel to Westfield State College on Saturday, March 6th, for their next season contest, which is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.