STRONG FIRST HALF PROPELS PRIDE IN WIN OVER LEOPARDS

WESTON, Mass. – The trio of underclassmen Grace Politis (Billerica, Mass.), Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.), and Adena Joseph (Stoughton, Mass.) combined for 12 goals to lead Regis College past visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology, 18-7 in non-conference women's lacrosse action on Thursday evening at Regis Stadium. With the win, the Pride improve to 9-6 overall on the year, while Wentworth drops to 1-9 on the campaign.

Sophomore Alexandra Banks (Ellington, Conn.) struck first for the Leopards, as she buried a shot top shelf just one minute into the game off a set play from classmate Jessica Houghton (Billerica, Mass.).

The Pride would respond by rattling off seven unanswered goals from 27:54 to the 14:25 mark. That stretch saw two unassisted goals come from Joseph, three goals from Salamone, and one apiece from Politis and sophomore midfielder Sashae Walls (Everett, Mass.), as the Pride jumped out to a 7-1 lead.

Wentworth would net two more goals in the half at the 13:06 and 1:32 minute marks from Liv Gardner (Westford, Mass.) and Ashleigh Savage (Middletown, R.I.), respectively. Unfortunately for the Leopards, Regis was able to sandwich four more goals in between courtesy of Salamone and Walls, who tacked on a goal each, and Politis, who struck twice. The teams entered halftime with the Pride holding a comfortable 11-3 lead.

Coming out of the break, the Pride and Leopards traded two goals each early in the second half. Joseph scored her third unassisted goal of the day after curling through the defense and taking a low shot that beat keeper Hayley Patton (Cranston, R.I.) with 27:55 on the clock. Wentworth responded seconds later, as Houghton knifed through the Pride defense right off the draw control and found the back of the net at the 27:42 mark.

Salamone tallied her fifth and final of the day after stick handling past Wentworth's defense and finishing the solo effort just over four minutes later, but once again the Leopard's responded quickly when Julie Azzinaro (Westerly, R.I.) found Gardner from behind the net, who took a low shot that beat Emma Decker (Southborough, Mass.) in goal.

Regis would go on their second 4-0 run of the game over the next eleven minutes to take a 17-5 lead, with four different players registering goals during that time. Midfielder Rachel Wong (Wakefield, Mass.) scored on a free position shot before assisting on a Polis goal, while freshman Becka Sarson (York, Maine) and sophomore Kara Lapierre (Wayland, Mass.) added unassisted goals of their own.

Houghton managed to add an assist on each of the final two Wentworth goals to finish the night with four points on a goal and three helpers. Midfielders Lisa Piccirillo (Islip, N.Y.) and Heather Saroche (Arnold, Md.) were the goal scorers for the Leopards, who cut the lead back to ten goals with just inside six minutes remaining.

Stacy Burns (Waltham, Mass.) connected with Katie Haidemenos (Warwick, R.I.) on a fast break with 5:12 to play to close out the scoring for the 18-7 final.

Patton would finish with ten saves for Wentworth, while Decker added eleven saves of her own for the Pride.

Houghton led the way for the visitors with four ground balls and eight draw controls. Andrea Barbosa (Taunton, Mass.) and Politis each scooped up a game-high five ground balls, and Salamone finished with a game-high six draw controls for the Crimson & Gold.

Both squads will be in action next on Saturday, April 20. Wentworth will travel to Roger Williams for a 3:30 p.m. contest and Regis will host Elms for an NECC showdown slated for a 1:00 p.m. start time.