Women's Lacrosse Knocks off Simmons 15-5; Advances to GNAC Semifinal

AUBURNDALE, Mass. (5/3/16) – Sophomore midfielder Taylor Yandow (Moretown, Vt.) tallied five goals to lead the Lasell College women's lacrosse team to a 15-5 victory over visiting Simmons College this afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinal match on Grellier Field.

The Lasers improve to 11-6 on the season and advance to the GNAC Semifinals for the fifth straight year and sixth time overall. Lasell will take on top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (Maine) on Thursday, May 5. The Sharks finish their season at 8-9.

The Lasers owned a 26-17 shot advantage, including 15-7 in the first half, leading to a 10-1 cushion after one half of play.

Yandow's five goals give her a team-high 41 for the season. She also added seven draw controls to go with a ground ball, while first year midfielder Jordan McComb (Cumberland, R.I.), classmate attacker Riley Musial (Clinton, Conn.), senior attacker Bridget Doherty (Franklin, Mass.) and classmate Lisi Anczok (Buffalo, N.Y.) all tallied a pair of scores for the home team. Anczok also added three ground balls and two caused turnovers and senior middie Ashley Pechulis (Westfield, Mass.) contributed with a goal, three caused turnovers, two ground balls and a draw control. Junior netminder Bridget Delaney (Weymouth, Mass.) made six saves to earn the victory for the Lasers.

Sophomore attacker Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) led Simmons with three points on two goals and an assist and added a pair of ground balls, a draw control and a caused turnover to her day for Simmons, while first year midfielder Elena Bragg (Belmont, Mass.) netted a pair of goals, won six draws and picked up three ground balls. First year attacker Missie Maiewski (Northampton, Mass.) registered a goal as well in addition to causing a pair of turnovers. Senior midfielder Ashley Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) closed out her career with three draw controls, two caused turnovers and a ground ball and will leave the Sharks as the fourth-leading goal scorer of all-time with 96 career markers. Senior midfielder Alexia Malone Oliver (Bristol, R.I.) recorded two ground balls, a pair of draw controls and caused a turnover in her career finale, while classmate Alexa Faria (Cumberland, R.I.) won a draw control in her final career match. First year goalie Kenzie Rogers (Bourne, Mass.) stopped six shots for the visitors.

Lasell scored the first five goals and the last five goals of the half to take a commanding 10-1 advantage at the intermission.

Yandow scored just 22 seconds into the period for the Lasers and Doherty and Anczok each followed with a pair of goals apiece to give Lasell a 5-0 lead with 21:17 to play in the half. Fries put Simmons on the board when she found the net on a free position shot with 19:55 showing on the first half clock to make it 5-1. Yandow scored three times over the next five-plus minutes to increase the Lasers' lead to 8-0 with 14:28 to go in the period. Senior attacker Stefanie Welch (Hancock, N.H.) and McComb each found the back of the net before the end of the period for Lasell.

The Lasers extended their cushion to 14-1 with the first four markers of the second half within a span of just under 13 minutes. Yandow, McComb, Pechulis and Musial all scored for the home squad.

Bragg ended the second-half scoring drought for the Sharks with a goal on a feed from sophomore attacker Kiera Kirkaldy (Middlebury, Vt.) at 15:48 of the second period. Fries found twine just 77 seconds for Simmons to notch her team-leading 41st goal of the year to cut the deficit to 14-3. Musial scored on a player advantage situation when Anczok fed her for the tally with 11:54 remaining in the contest. It was the 15th and final goal of the day for Lasell. The Sharks countered with the last two markers of the match and their season. Fries connected with Maiewski for her 25th season goal, before Bragg netted her 29th on a free position shot with 1:40 left in the game to pull the visitors to within 15-5.

Junior goalkeeper Bridget Delaney (Weymouth, Mass.) extended her overall record to 5-2 on the season with six saves in the full 60, while freshman Kenzie Rogers (Bourne, Mass.) finishes at 8-9, also with six stops in the effort.

The Lasers will head to Portland, Maine to face the Monks on Thursday in the GNAC Semifinal with draw control slated for 8:00 p.m.