Pride Hold Off Rally for Crucial GNAC Victory

WESTON, Mass. – For the second straight match, Regis College took the early lead and then held off a second-half comeback, as the Pride defeated Lasell College, 11-10, Wednesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's lacrosse match at Regis Stadium.

Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) led the Pride with a season-high four goals, while Brooke Ross (Hanover, Mass.) and Jordyn Ringuette (Colchester, Conn.) scored two goals apiece. Kerri Anselmo (Natick, Mass.) finished with one goal and four assists, and Brooke Greatorex (Gorham, Maine) led the defense by causing three turnovers.

Kelly scored the first goal of the match off an assist by Anselmo just over two-and-a-half minutes into the contest, and then she earned her second tally six minutes later, with Emily Kosak (Milton, Mass.) earning the assist. The Pride extended their lead to 3-0 with a little more than 13 minutes left in the first half as Anselmo found Ross for her first goal of the night.

The Lasers finally broke through as Vanessa Pino scored off a pass from Jordan McComb. Regis further extended its lead to 6-1 as Anselmo connected with Ringuette twice in a 57-second span, followed by an unassisted tally by Ross.

Lasell (7-2, 2-1 GNAC) starting creating scoring opportunities late in the first half, as Pino scored once and McComb earned two goals, all on free position shots, to close the Regis lead to 7-4 at halftime.

Kosak took advantage of a free position opportunity early in the second half, but Amanda DiLeonardo converted on her own free position shot to reduce the Laser deficit back to three. However, the Pride would extend their advantage back to five at 10-5 on goals by Malorie Kiehl (Burlington, Mass.) and Kelly.

The Lasers responded with three goals in the span of 61 seconds, as both McComb and Pino completed their hat tricks and DiLeonardo added a free position goal with 11:03 left in regulation. DiLeonardo had a chance to tie the game, but her shot was turned away by Regis goalie Brittany McPherson (Lynn, Mass.), keeping the Pride lead at 10-8.

A foul by Lasell gave Regis a free position opportunity, one that Kelly would convert with 8:42 remaining in the second half. The Pride had two chances to extend their lead further, but Laser goalie Morgan Choquet made two key saves to keep her team in the match.

Even though Lasell was a player down due to a yellow card, it was able to create two free position chances within 23 seconds of each other, and Pino was successful on both of them to bring the Lasers within one. McPherson made a save on a shot by Kellie Matthews with 1:29 left in regulation, and then a turnover caused by Ross allowed the Pride to run out the clock.

Pino finished with five goals, McComb collected three goals, one assist, and seven draw controls, and DiLeonardo picked up the other two Lasell goals along with four draw controls. The Lasers were able to gain possession by winning 15 of 23 draw controls, but they also committed 26 turnovers, including 12 caused by the Regis defense.

All of McPherson's eight saves came in the second half, while Choquet finished with 10 saves, including six in the first half. Regis was 20-for-30 on clearing attempts, and Lasell ended up 12-for-17 on clear opportunities.

Regis (6-1, 4-0 GNAC), now tied with Johnson & Wales and Saint Joseph's College at the top of the GNAC standings, start a busy week of three road matches by heading to Boston to face Emmanuel College Monday, April 1, for a 7 p.m. start. Lasell hosts Johnson & Wales Saturday, March 30, beginning at 3 p.m.