REGIS SCORES FIRST BUT FALL TO OWLS, 3-1

WESTON, Mass. – Regis College scored in the first 10 minutes of play, but Westfield State University scored three straight times in the rest of the half to defeat the Pride, 3-1, in field hockey action on a windy and rainy Thursday night in Weston, Mass. With the win, the Owls improve to 3-1 this year while the Pride drops to 0-5. Rookie Genesiz Gudiel (Lawrence, Mass.) netted her first career goal on a feed from Sashae Walls (Everett, Mass.) in the setback.

In the opening half, Regis came out firing on all cylinders as the Pride got off three shots and took a pair of penalty corners in the first six minutes of game action. The Pride finally broke through when Sashae Wells crossed the ball along the goal line to find an open Gudiel who blasted the ball into the back of the net to give Regis the early 1-0 lead. Both teams traded field position before the Owls began to push for the equalizer, getting off a pair of shots on the Regis keeper before Kelly Kenney (Suffield, Conn.) crossed the ball to the top of the circle to Jessi Gould (Canton, Mass.), who buried the shot to the opposite corner to tie the game at one goal apiece.

Just under three minutes later, Westfield State took a 2-1 lead when Sarah Pliszka (Enfield, Conn.) and Kerri Kinsella (Seekonk, Mass.) worked a little give-and-go in the circle, with Pliszka finding the back of the net for her second goal of the season. Almost three minutes after that, Kathryn Kenney (Suffield, Conn.) got on the board as she corralled a loose ball following a corner and gave Westfield an insurance goal headed into the half, leading 3-1.

The first half was fairly balanced as Regis held a 10-9 advantage in shots while each team took three penalty corners. Westfield State's Amanda McCarthy (Franklin, Mass.) made four saves in the opening frame while her counterpart, Morgan Mitchell (Ashburnham, Mass.), made one save and Kymberly Kerr (Uxbridge, Mass.) had a defensive save.

In the second half, both teams jockeyed for field position but Westfield State turned up the pressure, taking 18 shots in the frame. Mitchell was up to the task however, as she came up with 10 saves, while Kerr added her second defensive save of the day on a Jessi Gould shot, to keep the Owls off the board. Unfortunately for the Pride, they only mustered a pair of shots on the Owls, who held on for a 3-1 win.

For the game, Westfield held a 27-12 edge in shots and also held a 9-4 advantage in penalty corners. Amanda McCarthy improved to 3-1 while making four saves. Morgan Mitchell drops to 0-4 on the year despite making 11 saves in the contest.

The Crimson and Gold continue the search for its first win of the season next Thursday afternoon when they host former CCC foe Gordon College in a non-conference matchup at 4:00 p.m. Westfield State returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they host Eastern Connecticut, scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. face-off.