PREVIEW: Women's Lacrosse Enters Season Armed With Tradition And Talent
The Regis (Mass.) women’s lacrosse team could not have had a more successful run in the NECC, winning every regular season game and every tournament title in its five seasons. Coming off the best season in program history, the program now shifts to its new home in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference where head coach Courtney Duggan will be armed with tradition and talent.
WESTON, Mass. — The Regis (Mass.) women’s lacrosse team could not have had a more successful run in the NECC, winning every regular season game and every tournament title in its five seasons. Coming off the best season in program history, the program now shifts to its new home in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference where head coach Courtney Duggan will be armed with tradition and talent.
Kerri Anselmo, the team’s top scorer and assist leader from 2017, returns after her exceptional freshman season that landed her rookie of the year and first team all-conference honors. “She is a huge part of our attack as well as up and down the field,” said Duggan of Anselmo. “We will see what her sophomore year brings.” Anselmo’s team-best stats included 62 goals and 20 assists for a total of 82 points.
Also returning to the fold is Maddie Rodriguez who joined Anselmo as a first-team all-conference honoree last season. Rodriguez started all 20 games as a freshman, ranking second on the team in both ground balls and caused turnovers. “She’s going to be a huge part of what we do on defense this year,” said Duggan of Rodriguez. “Three of our captains from last year were on the defensive side so we’re asking her to really step up in a leadership role.”
Taylor Assarian, Linsay Bumila, Brooke Ross and goalie Maresa Malcolm also return as all-conference performers. Duggan will tell you to also add Kiana Koke to that list of key contributors. “Impressive defensive leader, a vocal captain, and a lot of what she does doesn’t show up in the stats. She is a huge part for us defensively and that’s where it starts. She is certainly someone we will be leaning on going into the season.”
Despite its record-setting 2017 season, the Pride will certainly have something to prove after being picked to finish seventh in this year’s GNAC Preseason Poll. Regis was 2-2 last season against GNAC opponents with both wins coming on the road, the second against Emmanuel College who was picked to finish fifth.
The Pride opens the season Wednesday, Feb. 28 at home vs Framingham State and will play its first-ever GNAC game on Tuesday, Mar. 20 when it travels to defending champion Johnson & Wales (RI).
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