Pride Women’s Lacrosse Holds On for Fifth Straight Win

DARTMOUTH, Mass. – After Regis College raced out to an early lead, UMass Dartmouth rallied back and had several chances to tie the match late in regulation, but the Pride held off the Corsairs for a 12-11 victory Monday night in a non-conference women's collegiate lacrosse match at Cressy Field.

Kerri Anselmo (Natick, Mass.) finished with five points on three goals and two assists, completing her hat trick in the first 10:30 of the match with three of Regis' first four goals of the match. Just 17 seconds after Anselmo's third goal, Brooke Ross (Hanover, Mass.) scored off an assist by Rachel Nadeau (Coventry, Conn.), extending the Pride advantage to 5-1.

The two teams exchanged goals the rest of the first half, as Sam Muir scored twice for UMass Dartmouth. However, goals by Taylor Assarian (Arlington, Mass.), Ross, and Nadeau allowed the Pride to go into halftime with an 8-4 lead, and then Assarian assisted on a goal by Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) less than two minutes into the second half to increase the Regis lead to 9-4.

For the next seven minutes, the teams once again went back-and-forth in scoring goals, starting with Muir completing her hat trick and featuring two goals by Malorie Kiehl (Burlington, Mass.). Exactly one minute after Kiehl's second goal, Emma Delacy set up Isabella Mancini for a UMass Dartmouth goal that closed the Corsair deficit to four at 11-7.

UMass Dartmouth (2-4) finally put together consecutive goals, starting with a free position goal by Brooke Scahill. Muir earned her fourth goal of the match on a free position attempt, and then she assisted on a tally by Hannah Niemi just 21 seconds later to pull the Corsairs within one at 11-10 with 11:25 remaining in the second half.

Mancini had two chances within the next four minutes to tie the game, but Regis goalie Brittany McPherson (Lynn, Mass.) was able to turn both shots away. After a series of turnovers by both teams, the Pride picked up their first goal in over 19 minutes as Kelly scored off an Anselmo assist with 2:03 left in regulation.

The Corsairs answered back 20 seconds later, as Brooke Martel won the ensuing draw control, eventually received a pass from Scahill, and scored her second goal of the match to once again draw her team within one goal.

Scahill picked up her 10^th draw control of the night to give the home team another chance to tie the contest, but two more shots by Mancini sailed wide, and a turnover caused by Emily Kosak (Milton, Mass.) in the final seconds clinched Regis' fifth straight victory.

Scahill finished with three goals and three assists to go along with her 10 draw controls as UMass Dartmouth won 19 of 25 draw controls. However, the Corsairs committed 28 turnovers, 17 of them caused by Regis, with Meghan Sargent (Brattleboro, Vt.) leading the Pride with six caused turnovers.

McPherson finished with nine saves, while Corsair goalie Kaitlyn Burchill finished with 12 saves, including nine saves in the first half to keep UMass Dartmouth in the match. The Corsairs were 3-for-10 on free position shots, while the Pride finished 2-for-6.

Regis (5-1) hosts Lasell Wednesday, March 27, starting at 6 p.m. at Regis Stadium. It will be a contest between two of the top teams in the GNAC, as the Lasers are 7-1 overall with a six-game winning streak, and both squads are undefeated so far in conference play (Regis 3-0, Lasell 2-0).