New Haven, Conn. – The Albertus Magnus College women's soccer team lost to visiting Lasell, 1-0, on Monday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at Celentano Field. With the setback, the Falcons move to 6-7-2 overall and 4-4 in league play, while the Lasers recorded their third straight shutout to improve to 8-3-2 on the year and 7-0-1 in conference tilts.
With the score tied at zero late in the second half, junior midfielder Erin Smith sent a perfect through ball to a cutting Carly Zdanek in stride. Zdanek outran the Falcon defender marking her and finished in lower right-hand corner of the net past a diving attempt from AMC senior goalkeeper Maria Case (West Haven, Conn.). The game-winning strike came in the 77th minute and was the fourth tally of the season Zdanek, while Smith recorded her sixth assist of the autumn on the play.
The best scoring opportunity for the hosts came in the 67th minute following a foul called on Lasell in the box. Albertus Magnus freshman forward Alexya Alves (Naugatuck, Conn.) was brought down by a Laser defender after a through ball sent her charging into box. Falcon junior midfielder Danielle Polvan (East Haven, Conn.) saw her penalty shot to the lower right side stopped on a diving effort by Lasell sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Laclair. After the initial save, Alves came racing towards the loose ball and sailed a shot just over an open net.
In the first half, the visitors had the first scoring chance of the day in the seventh minute. Senior defender Sarah Jones beat the Albertus player marking her just outside the box and fired a shot that was blocked by AMC junior defender Taylor Rotella (Milford, Conn.). The bouncing ball ended up back on Jones' foot and her second shot attempt was snagged out of the air by a leaping Case.
Neither team was able to break through during the opening 45 minutes as the two conference foes entered halftime scoreless.
Both teams trading scoring chances during a four and a half minute span early in the second half, but both keepers stood their ground to keep the contest tied at zero. In the 54th minute, sophomore midfielder Victoria Lavery (West Haven, Conn.) sent a through ball to senior forward Acacia Nelson (Bridgeport, Conn.) down the right side. The 5-0 speedster collected the ball and her short-side shot attempt was saved by Laclair. Four minutes later, Case kept it a scoreless game with a diving save on a blast junior midfielder Devon Day from just 25 yards out.
In net, Case turned aside seven shots in a losing effort for Albertus Magnus. On the opposite end, Laclair stopped all four shots she faced to earn the clean sheet and her seventh win of the fall.
Lasell held a slim, 19-13, advantage in shots and the visitors took five corners compared to just two for the Falcons.
Albertus Magnus returns to action on Saturday, October 17, with a road conference clash against Norwich.
