Blazers Dance Into Semifinals

Brighton, MA - The Blazers field hockey captured another win on the road against 4th seed Simmons University in the GNAC Quarterfinals this past Saturday.

THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elms 2, Simmons 1
RECORDS: Elms (9-8, 7-4 GNAC), Simmons (10-6, 8-3 GNAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Blazers avenged a 2-0 shutout on their home turf in late September with a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) upset, defeating fourth seed Simmons.

The two teams battled back-and-forth throughout a scoreless first quarter. It wasn't until midway through the second quarter when Elms finally broke up the stalemate. Carissa Ramirez (San Diego, CA) connected with Melanie Ward (Wilbraham, MA) to give the Blazer a 1-0 advantage.

It appeared as if the Blazers would be able to hang on for the win, but with six minutes to play in regulation Simmons scored forcing the game into overtime.

Following a scoreless overtime period that forced a second overtime. Two minutes into the second overtime, Ramirez registered the game-winner in the 78th minute to send the Blazers to the GNAC Semifinals.

Elms had a 14 to 10 advantage in shots and a 1-7 disadvantage in penalty corners.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Ellie Serra (Palmer, MA), Ward, and Ramirez all had shots on goal.
- Nora Newman (Woburn, MA) made 3 saves.
- Ward and Ramirez each scored a goal.

FROM THE DESK OF COACH LAPAR:

"Overall I am very proud of this team, how could I not be? We continue to show all the hard work and effort we have put in throughout this season to continually improve and get better. It took us until the second quarter to get going. The way Simmons passed and moved the ball was the best we have seen in what seems like a while. It took  adjusting before we could start to shut it down. Once we made those adjustments as a team, we produced more attacking opportunities for us and less for them. I am very proud of how we played fast pace, smart, and never gave up. It was one of those games where I never had a doubt that we would win, but knew it very well could be harder than regulation. I think our colors came through even more in overtime as we were very strong, stable, and confident that we could win. Adding to our confidence and belief we can do this, we are excited to get back to work and be ready to put in our best effort against Colby-Sawyer in the semi-finals."

UP NEXT:
- The Blazers will be on the road against Colby Sawyer College to compete in the Semifinal GNAC playoffs on Wednesday 11/3 for a 3PM start.

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