Lasers Axe Badgers 18-1
*Courtesy Lasell College Sports Info
Junior Justin Connolly (left) scored the Badgers lone goal in JSC's season-opening loss at Lasell on Tuesday while goalkeeper Branden Sawyer made 20 saves for Johnson
NEWTON, MA - Thirteen Lasers scored points on Tuesday night as the Lasell College men's lacrosse team put away visiting Johnson State, 18-1, improving their overall record to 2-4 this season. The Badgers drop to 0-1 after their season debut this afternoon on Grellier Field.
Chris Bulkley (Groton, CT) topped all players with five points, scoring twice and adding a trio of assists. Jon Elia (East Lyme, CT) and Nick Sampson (Londonderry, NH) notched four points each, Elia all on goals while Sampson dished out three helpers and netted one goal. Dylan Fernandes (Billerica, MA) and Chris Livelli (Hillsborough, NJ) tallied a hat trick each in the victory.
Dylan Gray (Bayport, NY) continued to expand on his team leading assist giving as he added two more against the Badgers and Matt Catalano (Syracuse, NY) chipped in with a pair of marks, good for his first two points of the season.
Rounding out the Laser scorers were Jake LaMorte (Walpole, MA), Patrick Bresnahan (Manchester, NH), James Finn (Quincy, MA), Sean Speciale (Hillsborough, NJ), and Ladson Shaello-Johnson (Binghampton, NY) who scored one goal each while Brendan Ham (Scarborough, ME) chipped in with one assist.
Shaello-Johnson was also victorious in 10-of-17 attempts on the face-off mark. As a team, Lasell won on 13-of-23 total face-off opportunities, also producing a 41-20 edge in ground balls, a 53-18 advantage in shots, and capitalizing on 26-of-28 total clear attempts. The Lasers also benefited from their one extra-man opportunity during which time Livelli scored off a feed from Gray.
Taking the victory in the net was Lasell goalkeeper Eric Walsh (Weymouth, MA) who turned aside five of the Badgers shots in the first half of play. Tyler Silliman (Windsor, CT) relieved Walsh in goal for the second half, making six saves, and yielding just one goal.
For the Badgers, Justin Connolly (Jeffersonville, VT) scored the only tally in the defeat, scoring at 13:22 in the final period, unassisted. Jason Dubie (South Burlington, VT) went 10-for-23 in face-offs for the visitors and Maxxwell Connolly (Rollinsford, NH) picked up a team-best four ground balls.
Branden Sawyer (East Greenwich, RI) was hit with the loss for the Badgers, making 20 saves in three periods.
Johnson will travel to St. Joseph's of Maine on Thursday, March 31 in their next contest while the Lasers will entertain Keene State University in their next non-conference contest on Saturday, March 26th at 2:30 in the afternoon, at Grellier Field.