Pride Come Out on Top in GNAC Contest

WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College women's lacrosse team took on Simmons Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest, beating the Sharks 9-5.  

Five members of the Pride scored goals, including Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.), who scored three times, while Kerri Anselmo (Natick, Mass.) and Brooke Ross (Hanover, Mass.) both found the back of the net twice.  Maddy Rodriguez (Amherst, Mass.) finished the game with five ground balls and four caused turnovers. 

Pride goalkeeper Brittany McPherson (Lynn, Mass.), who currently boasts the best save percentage in the GNAC, made a season-high 11 saves, finishing the game with a 68.8 save percentage.

The first goal would come 13:10 into the first half when the Sharks' Missie Maiewski, on the receiving end of a pass Molly Reinhold, fired her shot into the back of the net.  Just under six minutes later Kelly would score the first goal for the Pride to tie the game up at 1-1. 

Bridget Dowling (Hanover, Mass.) found the back of the net with 7:45 remaining in the first half to give the Pride a lead they would not relinquished.  Jordyn Ringuette (Colchester, Conn.) would score 1:33 later on a free position shot to give the Pride a 3-1 edge. A goal by Anselmo wrapped up scoring in the half, with the Pride leading 4-1 at the break.

After a pair of goals early in the second half increased the Pride advantage to five, Maiewski scored off a free position, shrinking the deficit to four.  Ross scored the first of her two goals for the Pride with 23:15 remaining in the second half.

Simmons responded when Reinhold connected with Elena Bragg who fired a shot into the net. Regis would then score the next two goals and Simmons would respond with two of their own, ending the game 9-5 in favor of the Pride.

The Pride won the draw control battle taking eight of the 15 draw controls, and they also edged out the Sharks in ground balls, 27-25.  Simmons cleared 15 of their 22 attempts (68.2%), while the Pride converted 18 of their clearance chances (56.3%).

Simmons (4-3, 2-2 GNAC) will play host to Saint Joseph's (Me.) on Wednesday, Mar. 27, before they take on Colby-Sawyer next Saturday, Mar. 30.

Regis (4-1, 3-0 GNAC) will play at UMass Dartmouth on Monday, Mar. 25 at 7 p.m. in a non-conference tilt.  They will then take on Lasell in a GNAC matchup on Wednesday, Mar. 27 to round out the March's slate of games.