Box Score NEWTON, Mass. – The Norwich University men's lacrosse team failed in its bid for back-to-back championships as the Cadets were upended 15-7 by Lasell University in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship game on Saturday afternoon at Grellier Field.
This was the fifth trip to the GNAC Championship game for the Cadets who had evenly split the four prior games 2-2. This game represented a rematch of the title game from last year which saw the Cadets beat the Lasers.
However, Lasell (10-2, 6-0 GNAC) seemed to have the Cadets number this year winning all three contests held at Grellier Field.
Norwich (9-4, 5-2 GNAC) got behind the ball in the first minute of play but senior Clyde Tamburro (Elizabethtown, Pa.) evened the score at 1-1 several minutes later on an unassisted effort.
A pair of goals by the Lasers put the hosts up 3-1 at the end of the opening frame.
Tamburro once again scored on an unassisted effort filtering out from behind the goals and firing a back-handed shot that beat the Lasell goalie.
After two more goals from the hosts, senior Payden Masaracchia (Enola, Pa.) notched his 41st goal of the season off of a pass from graduate Jack Anzalone (Ridgewood, N.J.) to make the score 5-3. That tally tied him for sixth-most goals in a single season in program history.
Lasell proved why it was among the top defensive teams in the nation holding the Cadets scoreless for almost 15 minutes between the end of the second quarter and the first part of the third. During that time, the Lasers also strung together seven-straight tallies to take an 11-3 lead.
Anzalone ended the run with his first of the game finishing off a pass from junior Parker Campbell (Rockaway, N.J.) who won a loose ball battle in the offensive zone. That assist gave him 29 for the season ranking him for second-most assists all-time in a single season.
However, Lasell would ice the game with three more goals before the Cadets tallied three late scores to finish off the scoring as Anzalone notched his second of the game and assisted on senior Kevin Horchak's (Mullica Hill, N.J.) marker. Campbell capped the game with his 21st goal of the season.
Senior Nick Kandra (Crofton, Md.) made 20 saves in net for the Cadets. Freshman Thomas Muraski (Keller, Texas) picked up a team-best four groundballs ending his first year ranking second in a single season for most groundballs with 123.
Following the game, Kandra, Masaracchia, and Tamburro were selected to the GNAC All-Tournament team.
All-Tournament Team
Alex Beauchemin, Lasell (MVP)
Colby Buccheri, Lasell
Andrew Fidalgo, Lasell
Chase Kapuscienski, Lasell
Magnus Leonard, Lasell
Nick Kandra, Norwich
Payden Masaracchia, Norwich
Clyde Tamburro, Norwich
Andrew Vasile, Johnson & Wales
Matt Zuckerman, Johnson & Wales
Coby Mercier, Rivier
Sawyer Gagnon, Rivier
