Lasell Field Hockey players receive All-Conference honors

NEWTON, Mass. – Six members of the Lasell College field hockey team were recognized Tuesday with selection to the 2018 All-Great Northeast Athletic Conference Team, as voted by the GNAC's head coaches.

Seniors Cailin Flannery (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) and Julia Franzik (Wallingford, Conn./Mark T. Sheehan) and juniors Sam Taylor (Hanover, Mass./Hanover) and Mindy Esposito (Sunderland, Mass./Frontier Regional) were named to the All-GNAC First Team, while sophomore Megan Horrigan (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield) and freshman Sofia Rodriguez (Peabody, Mass./Veterans Memorial) were picked to the All-GNAC Second Team. Flannery has earned GNAC post-season honors the last four years, while Franzik and Taylor are now three-time selections. In addition, senior Marianna Bean (Westbrook, Conn./Westbrook) was Lasell's representative on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team.

Flannery and Taylor provided Lasell with an outstanding 1-2 punch on offense, helping the Lasers rank 11th nationally among 165 schools in the NCAA Division III with 3.9 goals per game. Lasell also ranked 23rd nationally in assists per game and 13th in points per contest.

A 5-8 forward, Flannery led the GNAC in scoring with school records of 21 goals and 51 points and ranked fifth with nine assists. She ranked 26th nationally in NCAA Division III with 1.00 goals per game and 21st with 2.43 points per game. She scored at least two goals in a game six times, including a hat trick in a win at Clark University. Her 21 goals broke the school mark of 20, set by Caitlyn Walker back in 2008, and her 51 points topped the previous program record of 45 points that she established in 2015 and Taylor equaled last year.

Flannery, who was the GNAC Rookie of the Year in 2015 and All-Conference Second Team in 2016 before First Team honors the past two years, wraps up her career as Lasell's all-time leading scorer with 66 goals, 45 assists and 177 points, all of which are program records.

A 5-5 forward, Taylor shared the GNAC lead this season with a school-record 16 assists, ranked second with 50 points, and tied for third with 17 goals. She ranked 11th nationally in NCAA Division III with 0.76 assists per game and 24th with 2.38 points per game. She posted five multi-goal games, including a hat trick in a win over New England College, and was named GNAC Offensive Player of the Week four times. Her 16 assists bettered the school record of 14 established by Flannery last season, and her 50 points marks just the second time in program history a player has reached the mark, behind Flannery's 51 this year.

Taylor, who was All-Conference Second Team as a freshman in 2016 before First Team honors the past two years, finishes the season with 47 career goals, 30 assists and 124 points. She heads into her season season ranked second in program history in all three categories.

A 5-5 midfielder, Franzik earned her second straight First Team All-Conference selection on top of her Second Team honor as a sophomore in 2016. She finished fourth on the team in scoring this year with five goals, eight assists and 18 points. She had a two-goal game earlier this season in a win at Becker College, and she tallied a goal and an assist in the GNAC semifinal victory over Colby-Sawyer College. A four-year starter, Franzik winds up her career with 20 goals and 20 assists for 60 points in 79 games, ranking seventh in the Lasell record book in goals and fourth in assists and points.

A 5-4 back, Esposito started all 21 games on defense to earn her first All-Conference honor. She helped the Laser defense post two shutouts and rank fourth in the conference by allowing just 2.39 goals per game. She played a key role on offense as well, finishing the season with four goals and four assists after serving the ball into play on Lasell's penalty corner plays.

A 5-7 midfielder, Horrigan finished the year third on the team in scoring and fifth-best in the GNAC with 15 goals, four assists and 34 points. She had three multi-goal games, including a hat trick in a conference win over Johnson & Wales University. She also contributed a goal in Lasell's GNAC semifinal win over Colby-Sawyer. Her 15 goals and 34 points this year both rank in the top 10 in the Lasell record book for goals and points in a season.

A 5-5 goalkeeper, Rodriguez started 13 games this season and finished with an 8-3 record, a 2.81 goals against average, 99 saves and a .733 save percentage. She ranked third in the GNAC in victories, fifth in save percentage and first in total saves. Rodriguez was the GNAC Goalie of the Week three times this season before being named All-Conference.

Lasell completed the season with a 14-7 overall record under ninth-year head coach Cait Connolly, posting the second-most victories in a season in program history (behind the 16 wins in 2017). The Lasers finished runner-up in the GNAC regular season with a 6-1 record, and advanced to their second straight conference championship game before falling to Saint Joseph's College of Maine, 4-0.

2018 All-GNAC Field Hockey Team

First Team
F – Jordan Teixeira, Colby-Sawyer
F – Cailin Flannery, Lasell
F – Sam Taylor, Lasell
F – Libby Pomerleau, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
M – Colleen Burke, Colby-Sawyer
M – Julia Franzik, Lasell
M – Arianna Kahler, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
B – Mindy Esposito, Lasell
B – Kayla Veilleux, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
B – Meghan Fontaine, Simmons
GK – Megan Baker, Saint Joseph's (Me.)

Second Team
F – Aineen Callahan, Regis (Mass.)
F – Kayla Kelly, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
F – Emma Rutledge, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
F – Emily Plummer, Simmons
M – Megan Horrigan, Lasell
M – Maggie Fuzak, Simmons
M – Ana Giarrusso, Simmons
B – Kailyn Lapham, Colby-Sawyer
B – Kylee Veilleux, Saint Joseph's (Me.)\
B – Abby Anderson, Simmons
GK – Sofia Rodriguez, Lasell

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Libby Pomerleau, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Meghan Fontaine, Simmons
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR – Megan Baker, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Emma Rutledge, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
COACH OF THE YEAR – Rupert Lewis, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
INSTITUTIONAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD – Rivier University

ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM
Sarah Coley, Anna Maria
Sierra Schuster, Colby-Sawyer 
Carlotta Petracci, Johnson & Wales
Marianna Bean, Lasell 
Alycia LeConche, Regis
Nicole Mansfield, Rivier
Samantha Silva, Saint Joseph's  (ME)
Ana Giarrusso, Simmons

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