PRIDE CRUISE TO FIRST WIN OF 2015

WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College women's lacrosse team earned their first victory of the season by defeating New England Collegiate Conference rival Southern Vermont 18-4, on a cold, wet and windy Saturday afternoon at Regis Stadium. With the win, the Pride move to 1-1, 1-0 NECC and the loss was the Mountaineers' (0-1, 0-1 NECC) first of the season.

The Pride got on the board first when senior midfielder Teresa Busiek (Arlington, Mass.) won the draw, and sprinted down the field and ripped a shot that found the back of the net that gave the Crimson and Gold the 1-0 advantage just 11 seconds into the contest. About 40 seconds later, senior attack Grace Politis (Billerica, Mass.) found classmate Katie Haidemenos, in front of the net. Haidemenos had a one-on-one chance with mountaineer goalkeeper freshman Kelsey Carrera (Queensbury, N.Y.) and took advantage as her shot ended up in the net and upped the Pride lead to 2-0.

Regis kept up the pressure on offense and was rewarded two minutes later as senior midfielder Sashae Walls (Everett, Mass.) received a pass from junior defender Mary Roma (Portland, Maine) and cranked back a shot from seven yards away that was just out of the reach of the keeper. Junior midfielder Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.) scored the next two goals for Regis to give the Pride a 5-0 lead with 23:41 left in the first half. A minute after Salamone's tally, freshman attack Nicole Roche (Waltham, Mass.) scored her first collegiate goal after a quick pass in front of the net found Roche who shot the ball low and past the keeper giving the Pride a 6-0 lead.

The Mountaineers would answer four minutes later as sophomore midfielder Melodie Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) scored the first goal in program history when she took a pass from behind the net from freshman attack Savana Covey (Hampden, Maine), drove through the Pride defense, and ripped a high shot past Pride junior keeper Emma Decker (Southborough, Mass.). The goal cut the Pride's advantage to 6-1, but Regis would score seven unanswered goals including one from sophomore attack Danielle Aguinaldo (Malden, Mass.), which ended up being her first collegiate goal and go into the half leading 13-1.

There was less scoring during the second half of play as there were only eight combined goals. At the 19:30 mark, Mountaineer sophomore midfielder Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) scored her first career goal on a free position attempt. Melodie Orrell added two more goals for SVC when she ran through the defense, deposited a shot into the net and on the other tally she came from behind and ripped a shot into the top left corner. Linsay Bumila (Raynham, Mass.) scored her first career collegiate goal for the Pride during the 7:13 mark when goalkeeper Emma Decker found Bumila on an outlet pass and she went coast to coast for the goal.

Sam Salamone and had a big game for the Pride scoring three goals while making two assists and picking up one ground ball. Danielle Aguinaldo also scored a hat-trick and picked up three ground balls. Freshman midfielder Julia Jones (Revere, Mass.) also scored her first career goal during the victory. Melodie Orrell had a game-high nine groundballs during the Mountaineer defeat.

The Pride wrap up their three-game home stand when they welcome Wellesley College to campus on Wednesday, March 18 at 5:00 p.m. Southern Vermont will have a 10 day layoff before they welcome NECC foe Daniel Webster to campus on Tuesday, March 24 with game-time at 3:30 p.m.