SALAMONE SETS POINTS MARK, REGIS DOWNS SOUTHERN VERMONT 17-5

BENNINGTON, Vt. — Southern Vermont College was stifled by a strong Regis College defensive unit and great Pride goaltending Monday afternoon as the hosting Mountaineers fell 17-5 in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's lacrosse action at Everett Field.

The Pride scored the first six goals of the afternoon and never looked back, going into halftime ahead 9-3 before outscoring SVC by six in the closing 30 minutes.

Both teams are back in action on Wednesday in league contests, Southern Vermont (3-9, 3-2 NECC) visiting Bay Path University for a 4 p.m. start while the Pride (8-5, 5-0 NECC) host Elms College at 5 p.m.

RC senior Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.) tallied four goals and three assists on the day, adding two ground balls, five draw controls and two caused turnovers to her line. She scored twice in the early going before adding her first assist at the 10:32 mark, in effect passing Grace Politis '15 to become Regis' all-time points leader with 326 in her tenure as a member of the Pride. Her final goal tied Politis' all-time RC scoring mark of 257 goals, making her just one shy of becoming the lone record holder for the category.

SVC junior captain Mel Orrell (Gloucester, Mass.) scored twice while grabbing game-highs of six ground balls and six draw controls, and she also caused five turnovers in the effort to tie the team's single-game record. Fellow junior captain Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) added another two goals, four ground balls, two draw controls and two caused turnovers, and sophomore Paige Vitale (Greenville, N.Y.) had the final Mountaineer score to go along with her pair of ground balls. Freshman Aubrey Vierstra (Saugerties, N.Y.) registered three ground balls and two caused turnovers on the day for Southern Vermont.

Salamone's game-high four scores was followed by three from sophomore Nicole Roche (Waltham, Mass.) who also had an assist in the win. Three Pride players had a pair of goals, one being freshman Emily Kosak (Milton, Mass.) who provided another assist and a ground ball. Junior Arianna Woodley (Norwood, Mass.) scored a goal and recorded three draw controls and two ground balls on the afternoon, and junior Rachel Baldrate (Plymouth, Mass.) reeled in a team-best four draw controls for the Pride.

RC senior keeper Emma Decker (Southborough, Mass.) made 13 saves in net for the win (8-5) while SVC sophomore goalie Kelsey Carrera (Queensbury, N.Y.) stopped two Regis shots while taking the loss (2-4) from the crease.

Southern Vermont owned a 21-18 edge in ground balls for the day while also snagging a 12-11 advantage on the draw. The clear game was a big deciding factor, however, as Regis held the Mountaineers to just three successful attempts while moving the ball out 13 times of its own.

Woodley's strike came six minutes into the match, putting the visitors on top with a lead they would never let go of. She took the ball from behind the cage and came around the left side, using a nice spin move in front of the net to open up the shooting lane that allowed her to bounce her 12th goal of the year into the bottom-right corner. Salamone would then get on the scoresheet for the first time a few minutes later as she took the ball across the middle of the pitch and fired a shot past the SVC keeper, placing it in the upper-right side of the frame for the 3-0 upper hand.

After Salamone tallied another on a free-position shot, Roche fed Kosak from behind the goal for the quick catch-and-shoot on the right side that put the Pride up by five. Salamone then made RC history, passing the ball from below the goal line to an open Roche in front of the cage for the assist and her record-breaking point.

Orrell got Southern Vermont on the scoreboard with 7:19 to go in the half as she bounced in a free-position shot from the left side of the fan, only to see Kosak get it back with her 12th of the year. She took a Regis clear from the center circle and brought the ball all the way down before letting a right-handed shot fly into the back of the net, making it a 7-1 game.

Salamone padded that RC advantage with 3:30 to go, scoring her third of the day after spinning away from her Mountaineer defender at the top of the fan. Lesure had an answer 37 seconds later, ripping home a free-position shot from the middle of the pitch to set the score at 8-2.

Salamone and Lesure would each score in the final minute of the half, the Pride goal coming as the senior shook off a Mountaineer bounce and recovered to beat the keeper before Lesure sent in her 20th goal of the year on another free-position shot.

RC opened up the game once action resumed with the first three goals of the second half, a nice play between Roche and Kosak being the second of that spurt when Roche reached up to grab a high pass and swung it into the cage. Orrell would send a low free-position shot from the left edge into the bottom-left corner for her 41st goal of the year, only to see the Pride respond with four straight to go ahead by enough to keep the clock rolling.

Regis senior Rachel Gagnon (Ashford, Conn.) potted her second goal of the year to make it a 15-4 lead, snagging a Salamone pass from the left side before twirling her stick and depositing the ball into the lower part of the frame. Salamone then used a free-position opportunity at the top of the fan to feed freshman Malorie Kiehl (Burlington, Mass.) at the left side of the goal, Kiehl quickly slipping it past the Southern Vermont netminder for her second of the day and third of the year.

Vitale sent home her fourth of the campaign on a free-position shot on the left edge with 10:37 to play, but that would be the final Mountaineer score as Roche added a free-position tally of her own before the game went a scoreless 9:19 to the final horn.

Release Courtesy of Southern Vermont College Sports Information