BALANCED ATTACK FUELS PRIDE WIN OVER WILDCATS

BOSTON, Mass. – Behind eight different goal scorers, the Regis College women's lacrosse team downed host Wheelock College, 19-9, this afternoon in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) match at Winsor Field. The Pride improve to 7-6 overall and 2-0 in league play, while the Wildcats fall to 2-7 and 1-1.

Wheelock opened the game with a pair of quick goals in the first four minutes of play. Sophomore midfielder Molly Centore (Kennebunk, Maine) converted a feed from classmate Emma Marrs (Old Lyme, Conn.) with 2:19 into the game, before Marrs netted a goal of her own on a pass from freshman attacker Anna Shuqom (Brookline, Mass.) to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead with 26:09 left in the first half.

Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.) scored on an assist from sophomore attacker Grace Politis (Billerica, Mass.) at the 25:13 mark to get the Pride on the board. An own goal credited to Politis seemed to shift the momentum as the Pride pulled even with 20:43 to play in the opening period as part of a stretch of seven unanswered goals, including three in a 97-second span, by the visitors to take a 7-2 advantage with 14:03 showing in the first half.

Sophomore midfielder Adena Joseph (Stoughton, Mass.) came off the bench and gave the Pride a 3-2 edge with a tally coming with 20:23 remaining in the half. Salamone and Joseph both scored a pair of goals over the next six minutes to make it 7-2.

Centore and Marrs scored back-to-back goals to pull Wheelock to within 7-4 with 11:09 to go in the half, before Regis closed out the half with four straight goals to take a 11-4 halftime cushion. Politis found the back of the net, before Salamone added two more goals. Sophomore midfielder Rachel Wong (Wakefield, Mass.) scored the final marker of the half with a player advantage with just four ticks left in the period.

The Pride increased its lead to 13-4 with 28:21 to go in the second stanza, thanks to goals by junior midfielder Andrea Barbosa (Taunton, Mass.) and sophomore middie Sashae Walls (Everett, Mass.). Marrs countered for the Wildcats at 26:49, but Regis scored the next three goals, including a pair of markers from Walls and a score by junior attacker Lindsey Graver (Bellingham, Mass.) to take a 16-5 lead with 20:16 to play in the match.

Wheelock tallied four of the final seven goals for a 19-9 final. Gavin and Marrs sandwiched a goal each around a tally from Salamone to make it 17-7. Sophomore attacker Katie Haidemenos (Warwick, R.I.) and Joseph scored the final goals of the day for Regis to give the Pride a 19-7 lead, before Gavin and sophomore attacker Liz Randall (Westford, Mass.) closed out the contest with goals for the Wildcats.

Salamone finished with six goals and also added a game-high eight ground balls to her afternoon for the Pride in addition to seven draw controls and three caused turnovers, while Joseph finished with a career-best four goals to go with a ground ball and a caused turnover. Politis tallied five points, including three assists, won six draw controls, picked up a ground ball and caused a turnover, while Walls scored three goals for the Crimson & Gold.

Marrs led Wheelock with six points on four goals and a pair of assists and won a draw control, while Gavin registered three points on two goals and a helper in addition to a pair of draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Freshman goalie Emma Decker (Southborough, Mass.) earned the victory for Regis, stopping five of 12 shots she faced in 46:48 of action, before yielding to classmate Sierra Luce (Hartford, Vt.) for the final 13:12 of action. Junior Monica Bettle (Pembroke, Mass.) made nine saves for the Wildcats.

Wheelock will be in action again on Tuesday, April 16 when it travels to Leicester, Mass. to take on NECC foe Becker College at 6:00 p.m., while the Pride host Daniel Webster College at 6:00 p.m., also on Tuesday.

Release courtesy of Wheelock Sports Information