CAMBRIDGE, MA –Lesley University (14-3-1) came up short in its quest for a New England Collegiate Conference Championship, falling 1-0 to No. 3 seed Elms College (10-5-4), as the Blazers punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament by knocking out the NECC's top seed on its home turf.
Elms midfielder Gianna Gorneault (Springfield, MA/Cathedral) was named 2011 NECC Tournament Most Valuable Player after assisting on the game's only goal. The sophomore scored three goals in the team's previous two tournament wins.
Fellow sophomore Victoria Cebula (Granby, MA/Granby) followed up a Gorneault miss with the game-winning goal in the 42nd minute, and Lesley's league-leading offense couldn't land the equalizer in the period-plus that followed.
Lesley defender Jamie Coyne was named to the NECC All-Tournament Team for a second year in a row.
The first 15 minutes went quietly, with each team earning one shot, each on goal and saved by the opposing keeper. Things opened up in the minutes to come, with the Lynx getting off five shots and the Blazers sending a pair of tries at Lesley goalkeeper Emileigh Lloyd (Middletown, PA/Middletown).
The Blazers continued to pepper Lloyd and would break through first. At 41:27, Gianna Gorneault lobbed a shot at the opposite post, driving Lloyd to her left in knocking it down. Cebula, inserted off the bench two minutes prior, followed up Gorneault's miss inside the right post to put the visitors up 1-0.
Though both teams got off six shots, with Lesley putting five on net and Blazers keeper Kelly Callahan (Monson, MA/Monson) saving all five, it was the No. 3 seed that went into intermission with the 1-0 lead.
The Lynx outshot Elms 8-3 in the second half, and Elms earned the period's only two corner kicks, but neither team found quality scoring opportunities in a back-and-forth second. In spite of outshooting the Blazers 14-9 on the day, when the final horn sounded, Lesley found itself on the losing end of the league title game on its home field for a second year in a row.
Named to the NECC All-Tournament Team, Callahan gathered a match-high eight saves for the Blazers, while Lloyd tallied four saves for the Lynx.
The victory marks Elms' second NECC Championship, with the Blazers winning the league's first title game over Lesley, 1-1 in penalty kicks in 2008. Three years later, Kevin Meek's club will find out its 2011 NCAA matchup on Monday.
Below is the 2011 NECC All-Tournament Team:
2011 NECC All-Tournament Team
No. 4 Becker: Keri Richardson (Douglas, MA/Douglas); D, Jr.
No. 4 Becker: Jodi Theriault (Woodstock, CT/Woodstock); F, Jr.
No. 2 Mitchell: Maariyah Lombardo (Middletown, CT/Middletown); F, Fr.
No. 2 Mitchell: Nina Giansanti (Montville, CT/Montville); D, So.
No. 1 Lesley: Jamie Coyne (Mansfield, MA/Bishop Feehan), D, Jr.
No. 1 Lesley: Savannah Dunay (Effort, PA/Pleasant Valley), D, Jr.
No. 1 Lesley: Tracy Potter (Acton, MA/Acton-Boxborough), D, Sr.
No. 1 Lesley: Taylor Smith: (Sandy Hook, CT/Newtown), D, So.
No. 3 Elms: Kelly Callahan (Monson, MA/Monson), GK, Sr.
No. 3 Elms: Briana Valente (Springfield, MA/Cathedral), D, Sr.
No. 3 Elms: Ashley Venancio (Ludlow, MA/Ludlow), D, So.
NECC Tournament MVP: Gianna Gorneault (Springfield, MA/Cathedral), M, So.
