Women's Soccer Claims Kick-off Tournament Title with 3-1 Win

NEWTON, Mass. (8/31/14) – The Lasell College women's soccer team claimed the Lasell Kick-off Tournament title with a 3-1 victory over Keene State on Sunday afternoon at Taylor Field. Lasell begins the season 2-0 overall, while Keene State slips to 1-1 with the defeat.

Sophomore Megan Cullen (Amesbury, Mass.) scored a pair of goals and assisted on another, and senior Bridget Lynch (Dover, N.H.) scored her third goal of the season for Lasell. Sophomore Devon Day (Hartland, Vt.) and junior Bridget Munnelly (Bellingham, Mass.) each added assists on the afternoon. Sarah LeClair (Belchertown, Mass.) picked up her second win of the season in net, stopping three shots in the match.

Freshmen Taylor Farland (Fiskdale, Mass.) scored for Keene State, her goal in as many matches in her career. Victoria Crenson (North Salem, N.Y.) made two saves in goal while taking the loss for the Owls.

Lasell controlled play in the opening 45 minutes, outshooting the Owls 8-4 in the first half, and taking a 1-0 lead when a feed from Cullen found Bridget Lynch on the back post and her finish back across the goal beat Crenson in the 22^nd minute.

Lasell added their second goal in the opening minutes of the second half, when Cullen got on the end of a brilliant corner from Devon Day to tap the ball in for a 2-0 lead in the 47^th minute. Keene State responded, controlling possession and spending large chunks of the second half in the Lasers defensive half, and testing LeClair on multiple occasions. The Owls pulled a goal back in the 80^th minute when a strike from Farland from outside the top of the 18-yard box went over the outstretched hands of LeClair and into the top right corner of the net to make it 2-1. Lasell restored their edge to two goals in the 84^th minute when the Bridget Munnelly found space down the right flank on a counter attack and her service found a waiting Cullen who slotted home to make it 3-1 and send the hosts on to the victory.

Lasell junior Molly Masiero (Richmond, Mass.) was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player following a pair of superb performances, providing outstanding box-to-box play in the midfield and organizing the Lasers throughout the tournament. She was joined on the All-tournament team by Bridget Lynch, Megan Cullen and Mackenzie Kingman (East Bridgewater, Mass.) of Lasell, freshmen Taylor Farland, junior Jennifer Wilson (Plymouth, Mass.) and senior Beverly Cole (Madbury, N.H.) of Keene State, freshmen Francesca Galeazzi and junior Alexis Pike of Salve Regina, freshmen Elena Helming and sophomore Alma Rizvani of Bay Path College.

Keene State will return to action on Tuesday September 2^nd when they travel to Framingham State for a 4:00 p.m. match, while Lasell is back on the pitch on Wednesday September 3^rd when they travel to Roger Williams for a 4:00 p.m. contest.