PRIDE BREAK SEASON WINS RECORD WITH 21-5 DEFEAT OF ELMS

WESTON, Mass. – Nine different players scored at least a goal, including a game-high five by sophomore attack Grace Politis (Billerica, Mass.), as the Regis College women's lacrosse team defeated visiting Elms College in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) clash on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Pride improve to 10-6, 4-0 NECC, which breaks a program record for wins in a single season. The Blazers fall to 5-7, 2-2 NECC with the loss.

Prior to the game, Regis honored senior defender Kristen Amicangioli (Belmont, Mass.) for senior day. Amicangioli will go down as the first player in program history to have competed for the Pride for four straight seasons.

After the brief celebration, the game began and the Pride jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead less than three minutes into play after a goal by Sashae Walls (Everett, Mass.) and a pair from Politis. Politis netted her first of the game off a feed from Andrea Barbosa (Taunton, Mass.) and added an unassisted goal less than 90 seconds later after curling from around the back of the net and beating goalkeeper Alysha Parsons (Newington, Conn.) at the 27:48 mark.

The Blazers would respond with two unassisted goals of their own to cut the deficit to one. Sophomore attack Lauren Mazza (Agawam, Mass.) struck first, followed by classmate Nora McDonough (South Hadley, Mass.), who took a bounce shot that got past the Pride's Emma Decker (Southborough, Mass.) after beating a host of defenders to set herself up for the scoring opportunity.

The Pride rattled off three more unanswered goals to extend the lead, courtesy of Politis and two goals by Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.). McDonough would strike for the second time on the day off a free position shot to cut the lead back to three goals, but Politis added a free position goal of her own just 17 seconds later.

After Mazza finished for her second unassisted goal of the game with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half, the Pride stepped up their offense and assembled an impressive 6-0 run to close out the half with a 13-4 lead over the visitors.

Walls was able to complete her hat trick after netting two goals over that stretch, while Adena Joseph (Stoughton, Mass.) tacked on two goals of her own during the run. Salamone and sophomore attack Krysten Sheppard (Medford, Mass.) also tallied one goal apiece, with Barbosa adding her second helper of the game after feeding Sheppard.

Coming out of the break, Elms' McDonough scored her team-leading third goal on a free position shot with 22:50 on the clock. This proved to be that last time the Blazers would capitalize, as the Pride closed out the game by scoring eight straight goals for the 21-5 final.

Becka Sarson (York, Maine) and Stacy Burns (Waltham, Mass.) scored free position goals, and Katie Haidemenos (Warwick, R.I.) registered two goals and an assist for the Pride during that run to lead the way. Shelby Looney (Leicester, Mass.), Salamone, Politis, and Sheppard, who finished with two goals and an assist, also scored for the Crimson & Gold.

Salamone scooped up a game-high seven ground balls, won eight draw controls, and forced four caused turnovers to go along with her four goals to lead Regis. Decker was also solid in net for the Pride, stopping five shots in the win.

Defender Erika Murphy (Torrington, Conn.) led the Blazers with seven ground balls and two caused turnovers. Parsons and Catherine Leonard (Chicopee, Mass.) shared time in goal for Elms, finishing with five saves and 10 saves, respectively.

The Blazers will be in action again on Monday, April 22 as they take on St. Joseph (Conn.) for a non-conference game on the road that is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. The Pride will close out regular season play next Saturday, April 27 as they travel to Becker for a 1:00 p.m. NECC battle.