Lasers Edge Sharks 12-11

NEWTON, MASS. -- Simmons Lacrosse fought back from a four-goal deficit in the second half to put the Lasell College Lasers undefeated record in jeopardy Wednesday afternoon. But stellar play by Laser goalkeeper Alexa Katsigianis kept the Sharks scoreless in the last eight minutes to maintain Lasell?s perfect Great Northeast Athletic Conference record at 6-0.

NEWTON, MASS. -- Simmons Lacrosse fought back from a four-goal deficit in the second half to put the Lasell College Lasers undefeated record in jeopardy Wednesday afternoon. But stellar play by Laser goalkeeper Alexa Katsigianis kept the Sharks scoreless in the last eight minutes to maintain Lasell's perfect Great Northeast Athletic Conference record at 6-0.

Lasers Britney Wuorio finished with four goals on the afternoon, getting help from Ashley Slattery with three goals and three assists, Rebecca Stanton and Erin Gertonson each with two goals and Caitlyn Brecher who scored the eventual game-winning goal with 14:35 remaining. The Sharks were led by Rachel Wallace (Braintree, Mass.) who had a team-high six goals.

Simmons jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead to start the first half off goals from Mary Essa (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Wallace before the duo of Wuorio and Slattery would each score a goal and have an assist to tie the game with 20:32 on the clock. Lasell would score the next three goals to gain a 5-2 advantage.

But the Simmons offense struck back with tallies by Lee Sutherland (Tuftonboro, N.H.) and Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.) to tie the game at five a piece. With 5:58 left to play in the first, Gertonson scored an unassisted goal, as Lasell was man down to regain the lead 6-5. Simmons added two more, one from Meaghan Maurice (Portland, Maine) and one from Wallace before Lasell received another score from Stanton to end the half tied at 7-7.

Lasell came out hot in the second half scoring three unanswered goals; two by Wuorio and another by Gertonson, but Simmons would not go down without a fight. Wallace tallied for Simmons, cutting the Laser's lead to 10-8. Wuorio and Brecher would score back to back to push the Lasell lead to 12-8, but Simmons wasn't done.

The Sharks scored three unanswered goals, two by Wallace and one by Becca Shea (Quincy, Mass.) to trim the hosts lead to 12-11, but goalkeeper, Alexa Katsigianis made three of her eleven saves on the day in the last 1:32 of the game to help Lasell hold on for their eleventh consecutive win.

Lasell improved their record to 11-1 overall, and the Lasers remained unbeaten at 6-0 GNAC play. Simmons dropped to 5-7 on the season with a record of 4-3 in the GNAC. The Lasers will host Rivier on Saturday for their final home game of the regular season and Simmons will travel to St. Joseph's College of Connecticut for a conference matchup starting at 1:00pm.