Blazers Take Lasers on Senior Day

Chicopee, MA – The Elms Blazers Field Hockey team picked up their sixth Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win against Lasell University, 3-0 Saturday afternoon on Leary Field.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Elms 3 | Lasell 0
RECORDS: Elms (7-8, 6-4 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

With one game remaining in the regular season, both teams now have a 6-4 GNAC record and are tied for fifth place. Elms improves 7-8 overall while Lasell drops to 7-9. The GNAC playoffs begin next Saturday, October 30, at the sites of the top four teams.

Grad student Carissa Ramirez (San Diego, Calif.) led the Blazers with a goal and two assists, while seniors Ellie Serra (Palmer, Mass.) and Erin Thibodeau (East Longmeadow, Mass.) scored once each. Elms had a 23-7 advantage in shots and a 14-7 margin in penalty corners.

Serra put the Blazers on the board in the 13th minute, with an assist from Ramirez. The score stayed 1-0 until halftime, but Ramirez pushed the Elms lead to 2-0 a minute into the third quarter. Then Elms sealed the win when Ramirez set up Thibodeau for a fourth-quarter strike.

Freshman Courtney Tello made seven saves in the Lasell goal, and senior Nora Newman (Woburn, Mass.) made one save in the win for Elms.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Ramirez led the Blazers with 9 shots.
• Jones, Shea, Ward, Erin Thibodeau andSam Bonneau all saw multiple shots in the contest.
• Jones and Ramirez each saw assists.
• Ramirez, Serra and Thibodeau each scored a goal.
• Nora Newman made one save for the day.

FROM THE DESK OF COACH LAPAR:
"This was a great team win for us. Lots of skills/concepts we have been working on and talking about are continuing to come together. In addition, everyone gave it their all, showed up and made an impact in the positions they played. Cierra Brundage (Westbrook, CT), Sam Bonneau (Skowhegan,ME) and Katie Jones (San Diego, CA) stepped up in the backfield, putting pressure on and making smart outlet passes. Ellie Serra (Palmer, MA) and Erin Thiboduea (East Longmeadow, MA) played extremely composed in the middle with support from Elizabeth Collins (Enfield, CT) and Snejana Lashtur (Greenfield, MA) on the right and left side of midfield. Finally the attacking efforts from Carissa Ramirez (San Diego, CA), Melanie Ward (Wilbraham, MA), and Halie Shea (Windsor Locks, CT) helped push us past Lasell. I am very proud of the team for capitalizing on our opportunities and giving their second efforts all over the field. We are excited to keep playing with one conference game left in the regular season before playoffs begin."

UP NEXT:
- The Blazers will be on the road against Rivier University in GNAC conference play on Tuesday 10/26 for a 7PM start.

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