Women's Soccer Rolls to 5-0 Win over Norwich

NEWTON, Mass. (10/18/17) – The Lasell College women's soccer team blanked the visiting Cadets of Norwich University, 5-0, Wednesday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at Taylor Field.

The Lasers move to 9-1 in conference play and 9-5 overall, while the Cadets drop their third straight and fall to 1-9 against league opponents and 2-11 this season.

The Lasers held a blistering 39-3 advantage in shots, but were only able to convert on five, in part to a career-high 16 saves from Norwich rookie Katie Bishop-Manning (New York, N.Y.). Carly Zdanek (Newton, N.J.) broke open the scoring in the 5th minute in breakaway fashion for her 12th goal of the season. Zdanek scored her second of the game at 20:53 on a similar play, taking on two Norwich defenders before finishing top corner.

Norwich had their best scoring opportunity in the 31st minute, as Mehgan McMullen (Northfield, Vt.) sent a line drive to frame, but Sarah LaClair (Belchertown, Mass.) kept the visitors at bay with one of her three saves in the effort.

The Lasers needed just six minutes to net the second-half opener, initiated by junior Sabrina Morais (Arlington, Mass.) Morais laid down a textbook through ball to split the Cadet defense, that found the foot of Melissa Vasquez (Pawtucket, R.I.) for a quick finish in the bottom right. Seven minutes later, Morgan Pinksten (Pelham, N.H.) collected Erika Badger's (Scituate, Mass.) blocked shot for the 4-0 lead.

With 37 seconds left in regulation, the Cadet defense committed a foul in the box, awarding Morais with the penalty shot, that set Lasell up for the 5-0 shutout victory.

LaClair made three saves overall and improves to 9-5 this season, while teammate Hayden Wheeler (Hubbardston, Mass.) made one save in 11:51 of relief.

Both teams return to conference action on Saturday, October 21. The Lasers head to Johnson & Wales University for a crucial GNAC matchup in a battle for first place with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. The Cadets will host Albertus Magnus in honor of the three graduating seniors for a 5:00 p.m. start.