Lasell Women's Lacrosse wins GNAC Quarterfinal game over Simmons

NEWTON, Mass. – Four players scored four or more goals for the second-seeded Lasell College women's lacrosse team, including senior midfielder Taylor Yandow (Moretown, Vt.), who netted four markers to surpass the career 200-goal mark, in a 21-11 victory over seventh-seeded Simmons College Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament Quarterfinal at Grellier Field.

The Lasers improve to 13-3 on the season with their eighth straight victory and advance to host a GNAC semifinal game on Tuesday, May 1 at 3:30 p.m., Lasell will take on number three seed Mount Ida College, a 19-8 winner over sixth-seeded Norwich University. The Sharks close out their season with an 8-9 record.

Lasell owned an emphatic 42-20 shot advantage and recorded its highest goal total in a playoff match since 2013 when it scored 21 times vs. visiting Saint Joseph's (Maine) on April 26 at Grellier Field in the semifinals.

Yandow's milestone goal came with her third tally of the afternoon at the 24:38 mark of the second half to give Lasell a 16-7 advantage on an assist from junior attacker Vanessa Pino (Methuen, Mass.). The helper was the seventh of the match for Pino to equal her own school record set on April 7 against visiting Simmons. Pino also added two goals in the contest to give her a game-high nine points.

Yandow dominated the draw for the home team, winning 15 to contribute to a 23-10 team margin over Simmons. She also added five ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers. Junior middie Jordan McComb (Cumberland, R.I.) led all scorers with five goals on the day for the Lasers and added two assists, while freshman attacker Kellie Matthews (Walpole, Mass.) (4-2-6) and sophomore attacker Sam Taylor (Hanover, Mass.) (4-0-0) each netted four goals.

Lasell wasn't the only team making history. Senior attacker Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) came into the match needing a goal to knot Simmons' single-season record for goals and she found the back of the net three times to give her 58 with the record-breaking score coming with 22:29 to play in the half.

The Lasers looked to have the match well in hand, scoring eight of the game's first nine goals, including three from McComb and two each from Taylor and Matthews to contribute to an 8-1 cushion with 19:26 showing on the first half clock. The lone goal during the stretch for the Sharks was fired by junior midfielder Ana Giarrusso (Hingham, Mass.). Simmons put together a flurry of its own with four unanswered goals, paced by two from first year midfielder Molly Reinhold (Mystic, Conn.), to pull to within 8-5 with nine minutes left in the contest.

Lasell dented the Sharks hopes with five straight goals to close out the period with a 13-5 lead. Yandow and Matthews each netted a pair of goals as the home team took an eight-goal margin into the overtime.

McComb tallied the first goal of the second half, just 43 seconds into the second stanza for the Lasers, before sophomore Kingsley Richards (Lexington, Mass.) and junior Mallory Cottam (Hope, R.I.) each netted a goal for Simmons to make it 14-7. It was as close as the Sharks would get for the rest of the afternoon. The Lasers found the back of the net with six of the game's next seven scoring shots to put the contest out of reach at 20-8, following Yandow's final score of the day with 15:20 to go in the contest.

Simmons netted three of the last four goals of the afternoon, including the final two courtesy of the Sharks' seniors with Fries connecting at 1:40 and classmate Jolene Potter (Readfield, Maine) registering the final tally of her career with 14 ticks left on the clock.

Fries scored three times in the game and finishes her career as the team's all-time leader in points (221) and goals (183). She also added two assists, while Giarrusso notched three goals, won four draws and picked up three ground balls. Reinhold also scored multiple goals with a pair to go with three ground balls and Potter scored her 12th career goal to finish her career.

Sophomore Morgan Choquet (Woonsocket, R.I.) stopped five shots to earn the victory for Lasell, while senior goalie Chyenne Yeager (Indiana, Pa.) turned away 12 shots for Simmons.

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