Women's Soccer Wins Battle of the 2015 GNAC Finalists 1-0

BOSTON, Mass. – The Lasell women's soccer team came out on top in a 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship rematch, 1-0, against the Saints of Emmanuel College on Saturday afternoon at Roberto Clemente Field. The Lasers earn their first shutout of the season at 2-2-1 overall, while the Saints drop to 3-5 with the setback.

Junior Casey Meissner (Sandwich, Mass.) scored the only goal in the 80th minute of the rematch to push the Lasers to victory.

The game had a quick pace and high intensity from start to finish as both teams came out focused. Lasell outshot the Saints 7-4 in the opening half and 14-7 over the course of the 90 minutes.  

The Lasers pushed the pace early and earned five corner kicks in the opening 13 minutes of play, but the Saints were able to clear the ball on each occasion and avoid trouble.  

Emmanuel sophomore Kayla Generis (Wethersfield, Conn.) had the best offensive chance of the half for the hosts just five minutes in when she broke through on a partial breakaway. Generis was tracked down by a Lasell defender who blocked her shot at the absolute last second.

Both teams earned corner kick opportunities in the opening stages in the second half, but neither were able to capitalize. It looked like sophomore Mikayla Guthrie (North Andover, Mass.) would finally break through for the Saints in the 58th minute, but her flick over Lasell junior goalkeeper Sarah LaClair (Belchertown, Mass.) rung off the crossbar and the game stayed scoreless.

In the 80th minute, sophomore Carly Zdanek (Newton, N.J.) found herself on a 2-on-1 with Meissner to her left. The sophomore slid the ball over to her teammate and Meissner placed the ball perfectly past junior goalkeeper Victoria Laroche (Hudson, N.H.) for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal.

LaClair made two saves in the victory, collecting her first clean sheet of the season, while Laroche had eight saves in the loss.

The Lasers return to the pitch on Tuesday as they travel to Wellesley for a 4:00 p.m. tilt, while the Saints host UMass-Boston at 7:00 p.m. that evening.

Recap Courtesy of Emmanuel Sports Information