WSOC: Lasers Set to Host Chargers in GNAC Quarterfinal
Newton, MA - The Lasell Women's Soccer Team is set to play the Chargers of Colby-Sawyer on Saturday at Taylor Field in the quarterfinal round of the GNAC Tournament. The Lady Lasers earned the No. 4 seed in the conference with a record of 8-4-3 and an overall season record of 9-5-3. The Chargers of Colby-Sawyer come in as the No. 5 seed with a conference record of 7-2-6 and an overall record of 9-4-7.
The Lasell Women's Soccer team is no stranger to hosting GNAC Tournament games. They have hosted a home tournament game in each of the last four seasons dating back to 2021. The Lasers boasted a very strong home record of 5-1-1 and had some key wins throughout their season such as a 2-0 victory over Norwich and a 2-0 victory over Colby-Sawyer which helped to solidify their seeding over both teams.
Veteran coach Vito La Francesca looks to continue to add to his coaching resume with a shot at another GNAC Championship. La Francesca has been able to capture 8 GNAC titles over his 16 years at Lasell and has been at the forefront of developing an astounding women's sports program at Lasell. In each of the last two seasons, the Lasers came up just short in the GNAC Tournament suffering back-to-back losses in the title game. A largely upper-class Lasell roster has been part of those prior defeats and is hungry to break through to add to the history books. One of these players is Junior Camdyn LaMarre who led the Lasers in scoring this season with 10 goals and was also tied for the most assists (6). LaMarre was in the top 8 in the conference in goals and total points on the year. Another upperclassman Michaelina D'Agostino was the other top goal scorer for the Lasers netting 6 goals on the season as well as chipping in 3 assists of her own. On the backline for the Lasers, junior goalkeeper Elizabeth DaSilva had 67 total saves in net with a season record of 9-5-3. She also tallied four shutouts on the year.
Colby-Sawyer comes into the matchup with Lasell having not lost a game since their regular season matchup with Lasell on October 5th. The Chargers had 6 ties on the season, which led the GNAC. After a slow start to the season in which they were 1-3-1 through five games, they were able to find their footing and finish out 9-4-7. The key players for the Chargers start with Senior Bridget O'Connell who had a whopping 21 goals on the year. She holds the number 2 spot in goals and points (49) through the regular season. Her teammate Sam Bishop also had a great year as she was second in goals for the Chargers with 6 and also had 12 assists which was also ranked second in the GNAC. The goalie for the Chargers Gabriela Calidonio had 71 saves on the year with 4 total shutouts.
The highly anticipated matchup will be hosted at Lasell's Taylor Field on Saturday, November 2nd at Noon.
