BIG SECOND HALF LEADS BLUE OVER PRIDE

WESTON, Mass. – Wellesley College defeated Regis College, 18-7, on a cold and windy Wednesday afternoon in non-conference women's lacrosse action in Weston, Mass. The Blue improve to 3-0 on the year, while the Pride drops to 1-2.

Teresa Busiek (Arlington, Mass.) led the Pride attack with three goals, four groundballs, and five draw controls. Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.) and Grace Politis (Billerica, Mass.) added two goals apiece, and combined for six groundballs and five draw controls. Sashae Walls (Everett, Mass.) led the Pride defense with three caused turnovers to go with three groundballs.

Nikki Sharkin (Summit, N.J.) scored eight goals and added an assist, five groundballs, four draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers to lead Wellesley. Claire Canty (East Rockaway, N.J.) added a pair of goals and six assists on the day to go with five groundballs and five draw controls. Meghan Peterson (Glastonbury, Conn.) scored a hat-trick, while Courtney Peterson (Glastonbury, Conn.) and Jenny Gebner (Pleasanton, Calif.) had two goals apiece and combined for five assists. Chesley Hooker (Cypress, Texas) rounded out the scoring with a goal.

Wendy Nettleton (La Jolla, Calif.) picked up her third win of the season in net for the Blue, making seven saves. Emma Decker (Southborough, Mass.) suffered the setback, making nine saves on the day.

Wellesley outshot the Pride at a 33-23 clip and held a 16-24 advantage in turnovers. Both teams were close in draw controls as the Pride grabbed 15, compared to 12 for the visitors. Wellesley was especially good on clears, going 9-for-12, while the Pride went 6-for-14.

Sharkin and Busiek traded goals to open the game before the Blue scored three-straight to take a 4-1 advantage with 8:12 to play. Peterson scored before Sharkin scored the other two tallies. Grace Politis ended the run with her first goal of the game as the Pride took advantage of a Wellesley yellow card and converted the extra attacker opportunity when Katie Haidemenos (Warwick, R.I.) found Politis in front for a goal that cut the deficit in half at 4-2.

Wellesley answered with three more goals as Peterson and Sharkin scored unassisted scores before Courtney Peterson scored on a quick pass in front from Canty to give the Blue a 7-2 lead. Sam Salamone would convert a free position goal before the half was over as the Pride entered the break trailing 7-3.

Busiek and Haidemenos worked a nifty give and go to open the second half with Busiek finding the back of the net to make it a 7-4 game. However, Wellesley answered with five-straight goals to jump on top 12-4. Grace Politis and Sam Salamone sandwiched goals around another Canty score to make it a 13-6 game, but the Blue scored five of the final six goals to end the game and cruise to the 18-7 victory.

The Crimson and Gold return to action on March 24 when they travel to Framingham State University for a 4:30 p.m. matchup with the Rams that was rescheduled from earlier in the year. Wellesley also takes a week off and will host Springfield College in a NEWMAC game on March 25 with a 4:00 p.m. start time.