Women's Soccer Tournament Preview: GNAC Semifinal vs. Lasell

Posted: Oct 31, 2022

Women's Soccer Tournament Preview: GNAC Semifinal vs. Lasell
Albertus Magnus College
Women's Soccer GNAC Preview
#6 Albertus Magnus College (9-5-4)
at
#2 Lasell University (12-5-1)
Tuesday, Nov. 1 • 2:30 pm • Newton, Mass.

Postseason Begins
After defeating No. 3 Emmanuel (Mass.) College in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Quarterfinals on Saturday, the No. 6 Albertus Magnus College women's soccer team advanced to the Semifinals to play No. 2 Lasell University. The Falcons and Lasers will square off for a spot in the GNAC Championship Game on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at 2:30 p.m. at Lasell's Taylor Field in Newton, Mass.

The Falcons put together an all-around performance to earn Saturday's win over the Saints, as Erina Ismaili (Middlebury, Conn.) led the offense with her first-career multi-goal game. Ismaili scored twice, with assists from Keegan Riccio (West Haven, Conn.) and Jordan Kikosicki (East Haven, Conn.), against the No. 1-ranked defense in the GNAC. On the other end of the field, Amy Stevens (Lincoln, R.I.) anchored a Falcons' backline that held the league's third-highest-scoring offense to just one goal.

Postseason Notes

This year marks the Falcons' 14th GNAC postseason appearance.
Albertus has an all-time postseason record of 5-10-3.
Tuesday's contest will be the third all-time meeting between Albertus and Lasell in the GNAC Tournament.

2022 Recap

The Falcons started the season on a 2-0-1 tear, winning matches against Mitchell College and Fisher College before battling to a 3-3 draw against CCNY.
Albertus then suffered a tough stretch, losing tightly-contested contests to Regis (Mass.) College, Rutgers University-Newark, and Lasell University, while also earning a 2-0 win over Colby-Sawyer College over its next four matches.
AMC closed out September with a 1-1 draw with Elms College and a convincing 4-1 victory over Anna Maria College.
The Falcons opened October with a 1-0 win over Simmons University before losing a tough 3-0 contest to Emmanual (Mass.) College.
AMC rebounded after the loss to the Saints with a five-game unbeaten streak, defeating Rivier University, Dean College, and Norwich University while recording back-to-back ties against the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) and Saint Joseph's (Me.) College.
Albertus closed out the regular season with a hard-fought 4-2 loss to Johnson & Wales (R.I.) University.
With two goals against the Wildcats, graduate student Haley Andrews (Prospect, Conn.) took sole possession of the program's all-time points and goals records, as she has tallied 96 points and 39 goals in her illustrious career.
After earning the No. 6 seed in the GNAC Tournament, the Falcons made a statement in the Quarterfinals by knocking off the No. 3 seed, Emmanuel, on the road with a 2-1 win.

GNAC Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals - Saturday, Oct. 29
#8 USJ (CT) 2, #1 JWU 5
#5 Regis 1, #4 Saint Joseph's Maine 3
#6 Albertus Magnus 2, #3 Emmanuel 1
#7 Colby-Sawyer 0, #2 Lasell 4

Semifinals - Tuesday, Nov. 1
#4 Saint Joseph's Maine at #1 JWU - 7:00 p.m.
#6 Albertus Magnus at #2 Lasell - 2:30 PM

Championship - Saturday, Nov. 5
Final at highest remaining seed

This Year vs. Lasell

In their first meeting of the season, the Lasers got the better of the Falcons with a 2-1 win on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
Lasell took the first lead of the game in the 40th minute before Albertus' Kikosicki evened the score at 1-1 with a goal just after the halftime break.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, the Lasers snuck another goal in at the 81:12 mark to steal a road 2-1 victory.
In goal, AMC's Stevens recorded one of her best performances of the season by making eight saves against the challenging Lasers to keep the contest close throughout.
Kikosicki's goal was her first of the season, while Bridget Rosikiewicz (Naugatuck, Conn.) posted her first assist of the year.

Scouting Lasell
Goals Per Game: 2.83
Shots Per Game: 18.7
Goals-Against Average: 1.06
Save Percentage: .796

Lasell Player Highlights

Senior Bobbi O'Guin leads the Lasers with 28 points and 10 assists this season, to go along with nine goals.
O'Guin's 10 assists are tied for the second most in the GNAC.
Graduate student Serena Speight is right behind O'Guin with 27 points on a team-best 10 goals and seven assists.
Between the pipes, senior Kyli Swann posted eight of the team's 11 wins with five shutouts.
Swann enters Tuesday's contest with 64 saves, a 1.08 goals-against average, and a .810 save percentage.

Scouting Albertus Magnus
Goals Per Game: 1.83
Shots Per Game: 17.7
Goals Against Average: 1.11
Save Percentage: .847

Albertus Magnus Player Highlights

Stevens enters Tuesday's match ranking third in the GNAC with a .843 save percentage and is tied with Swann for fifth with a 1.08 goals-against average.
Andrews finished the regular season in the top 10 in the conference in goals scored with nine and assists with five for a total of 23 points.
Ismaili had a breakout year for the Falcons and finished the regular season with six goals and an assist before her outstanding two-goal performance against Emmanuel in the GNAC Quarters.
Rosikiewicz, Victoria Jainchill (Simsbury, Conn.), and Haley Montesanto (East Haven, Conn.) all scored multiple goals for the Falcons this season.