WESTON, Mass. – Gordon College defeated Regis College, 5-3, in non-conference field hockey action on Wednesday night in Weston, Mass. The Fighting Scots improve to 7-2 on the year, while Regis falls to 2-7.
Regis struck first on a corner opportunity as Victoria McAuley (Latham, N.Y.) played the ball into the circle to Stacy Burns (Waltham, Mass.). Burns then fired a pass to Christine O'Toole (Wareham, Mass.) that the senior fired opposite post. McAuley was there for the tip-in as Regis grabbed an early 1-0 lead. Gordon responded nearly three minutes later as Brittany Hawkins (Hampstead, N.H.) stole an inbounds pass and went the length of the field on a fastbreak, beating the Regis keeper 1-on-1, and knotting the game at one goal apiece.
The Fighting Scots took advantage of a penalty corner at the 10:03 mark of the opening half as Karlie Balmer (Perkasie, Pa.) received a pass at the top of the circle and fired the ball on net where it was tipped by Karli-An Gilbert (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and then tipped in the back of the net by Sarah Shannon (Chatham, N.J.) to put Gordon on top, 2-1. The Pride answered this time as McAuley returned the favor to O'Toole, as McAuley found O'Toole on a crossing pass in front of the net that she slapped home to tie the game at 2-2.
Karli-An Gilbert rounded out the scoring in the opening half with just under 13 minutes to play as she corralled her own rebound off a shot for her first career goal and a 3-2 lead for the visitors.
In the second stanza, Gordon stretched its lead to two goals when Collette Newcombe (Rowley, Mass.) played a ball in front that found Katherine Bailey (Baltimore, Md.) opposite post and the junior buried the shot for a 4-2 lead. The Pride cut the deficit to 4-3 when O'Toole scored her second tally of the game on a feed from Sashae Walls (Everett, Mass.) with just under nine minutes to play in regulation.
Brittany Hawkins sealed the game for the Fighting Scots with five minutes left when Collette Newcombe set up Hawkins with an open shot in front to put Gordon on top 5-3. Sam Anderson (Sandwich, Mass.) took the final shot of the day for the Pride but was turned away by Anna Bury (Huntingtown, Md.) as Gordon held on for the two-goal win.
Gordon outshot the Pride at a 26-6 clip and held a 14-5 advantage in penalty corners. Shannon Hicks (Scarborough, Maine) picked up the win for Gordon in the first half, while Bury closed out the final 35 minutes making one save. Raegan Heck (Phillipston, Mass.) suffered the setback, making 15 saves on the night.
Regis returns to action on Saturday morning when they host Clark University at 10:00 a.m. as a part of the second-annual Regis College Pride Fest. Gordon goes for its fourth-straight win on Saturday when they take on cross-town rival Endicott College in an 11:00 a.m. contest.