Men's Soccer Rallies, Tops Lesley In NECC Opener

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Regis (Mass.) men's soccer team erased a 1-0 halftime deficit with two second half tallies to come back and defeat Lesley University in New England Collegiate Conference men's soccer action this afternoon on Edward Field. The win propels the Pride to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in NECC action while the Lynx slip to 1-7 on the year and 0-2 in conference matches.

Lesley took a 1-0 lead early in the first half as junior Nuno Pereira (Dorchester, Mass.) netted his second marker of the year. Pereira kept a Regis defender on his back and dribbled to the top right corner of the Pride 18-yard box and ripped a beautiful right-footed blast that struck inside the top left corner of the goal to put the hosts up in the tenth minute of play.

The Pride had several chances early on in the first half. Sophomore Derek Triana (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) rushed into the left side of the box in the fourth minute and released a shot, but a charging James Webb (San Diego, Calif.) put a stop to the threat with a sliding deflection.

Regis would follow that chance with back-to-back corner kick opportunities in the fifth minute, but Webb was there to punch out the first chance before senior Billy Baker (Sacramento, Calif.) neutralized the second with a clear out of the box.

The Pride would get on the board and even the score after the break. Sophomore Derek Triana (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) settled a pass from classmate Litchie Barbosa (Boston, Mass.) and chipped a shot into the far left side of the net for his second goal of the season in the 60th minute.

Triana and the Pride would take the lead 16 minutes later when the second year midfielder would send a cross into the Lesley box to a streaking Jai Pandit (Parkland, Fla.) and knocked in his first goal of the season in what proved to be the game-winner.

The Lynx would have their chances to tie with less than four minutes to play as they had a trio of corner kick opportunities, but were unable to connect for a goal.

Regis held a 6-4 advantage in total shots while Lesley had six tries from the corner – all in the second half - compared to the Pride's four.

Lesley will be back on the pitch at Edward Field on Wednesday when they play host to Wentworth at 8:00p. Regis will also return home on Wednesday as they will host Emerson College at 4:00p.

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Release courtesy of Lesley Sports Information