Regis Women’s Lacrosse Loses Season Opener

WESTON, Mass. – Regis College stayed with Utica College for the first 35 minutes of the Pride's season opener, but the Pioneers pulled away in the second half for a 16-7 victory Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference women's collegiate lacrosse match at Regis Stadium.

Emily Kosak (Milton, Mass.) led the Pride with two goals, while Kerri Anselmo (Natick, Mass.) and Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) each finished with one goal and two assists. Kelly and Brooke Ross (Hanover, Mass.) each picked up three draw controls to give Regis possession, and goalie Brittany McPherson (Lynn, Mass.) earned nine saves in net for the Pride.

Regis took an early 2-0 lead six minutes into the match on goals by Ross and Rachel Nadeau (Coventry, Conn.), but Utica quickly responded, tying the contest at 2-2 on free position goals by Lauren Wolff and Hailee DuMont. The Pride reestablished a two-goal advantage after Taylor Assarian (Arlington, Mass.) scored a free-position goal and then assisted on Kosak's first goal of the day.

Utica (3-1) took the lead for good with four unanswered goals in the final six minutes of the first half, including the second goals of the match for Wolff and DuMont. Regis twice pulled within one goal early in the second half as Anselmo scored off a Kelly assist, followed by a Kelly goal off an Anselmo helper to close the Pioneer lead to 7-6 3:17 into the second half.

Starting with the second of three goals by Lexi Scaccia, Utica closed out the match by scoring 9 of the final 10 goals. The Pioneers controlled possession by winning 17 draw controls, including 10 by Scaccia, while allowing the Pride to capture eight, leading to a 25-12 Utica advantage in shots on goal.

The Pioneers were 14-of-19 in clear attempts, including 10-of-11 in the second half, and they also connected on 7-of-13 free position shots. Utica goalie Hali Vandermeulen collected five saves, making four saves in the second half to allow her team to pull away with the victory.

Regis (0-1) hosts Norwich in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match Saturday, March 16, starting at 3:30 p.m. in the second half of a lacrosse doubleheader at Regis Stadium after the men face Lasell. The Pride are dedicating the contest to Lax 4 Life, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of young adult and adolescent suicide prevention.