Women's Lax falls in GNAC Tournament

Newton, Mass. – The Raiders women's lacrosse team fell to Lasell College 23 – 12 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) quarterfinals. Lasell ran out to a 10-3 lead in the opening 12 minutes en-route to the victory. Rivier finishes at 5 – 7 on the year, while Lasell improves to 14 – 2 on the season.

Rebecca Wickens (sophomore, Tyngsboro, MA) scored six goals for Rivier, who also got two goals apiece from Lauren Brett (junior, Otisfield, ME), Hannah Wyatt (sophomore, Merrimack, NH), and Jessica Amaral (sophomore, E. Providence, RI).

Britney Wuorio (Bolton, Mass.) scored eight goals, seven in the opening half, and added an assist to help lead the Lasers attack. Ashley Slattery (Weymouth, Mass.) finished with five goals and a pair of assists, Rebecca Stanton (Agawam, Mass.) chipped in with three goals and an assist, and Caitlyn Brecher (Cheshire, Conn.) and Bri Daley (Watertown, Conn.) each tallied a pair of goals for the hosts.

The two teams traded goals through the opening 2:30, as Rivier tied the game at 2-2 on Brett's first goal of the afternoon. Wuorio scored for Lasell a minute later followed by a Stanton goal and another by Wuorio to put the 2nd seeded Lasers in front 5-2 with 23:12 remaining in the opening half.

Wickens second goal of the game at 22:30 cut the Lasell lead to 5-3, but a goal by Brecher and four straight scores by Ashley Slattery gave the hosts a 10-3 edge with 18:04 to play in the first half.

Amaral and Wickens each tallied a goal to bring Rivier back to within five at 10-5 with 12:14 remaining in the half. Lasell closed the first half with a 7-0 run, featuring four goals by Wuorio to tale a 17-5 lead at intermission. Each team scored seven times in the second half, but the Raiders were never able to draw closer than 11 the rest of the way.

Caleigh Bertolaccini (junior, Chelmsford, MA) finished with a pair of saves for Rivier, and Mackenzie Flagg (freshmen, Shirley, MA) had six saves as the two split time in goal. Alexa Katsigianis (Amherst, N.H.) got the win for Lasell, finishing with ten saves.

The Raiders lacrosse program has continued to improve under 2nd year head coach Kate Gaudreau. This season's 7th place finish in the conference is the best ever for a young Raiders program. With back to back qualifying campaigns for the GNAC playoffs the Raiders lacrosse program has grown tremendously in its first three years. With a young team that is losing no one to graduation, the Raiders can take pride in their accomplishments this season and look forward to continued growth with their young team in the coming years.