WESTON, Mass. – For the second time in five days, the Regis College field hockey team defeated Elms College, 2-1, in double overtime, this time in a New England Collegiate Conference Semifinal matchup on Wednesday night in Weston, Mass. Stacy Burns (Waltham, Mass.) played the hero, scoring on a penalty shot in the 90th minute of action to propel Regis to the NECC Championship match for the second time in three years.
The Pride (8-10) will take on the winner of the other NECC Semifinal matchup between No. 1 Anna Maria and No. 4 Becker College that will be played later Wednesday night. Elms wraps up its season at 5-14 overall.
The Pride earned a pair of penalty corners in the opening minutes of the game, but could not capitalize on either one. Stacy Burns (Waltham, Mass.) had the best opportunity early as she took a pass on a corner from Sashae Walls (Everett, Mass.) and she fired a shot on goal. Elms' Ashley Reid (Enfield, Conn.) stepped in front of the shot and kept it out of the cage to keep it a 0-0 game early.
Elms came down on the ensuing possession and worked the ball inside the circle where Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.) had an open shot opposite post, but her shot went just wide. The Blazers went on to dominate play over the next 20-plus minutes of action, keeping the pressure on the Pride defense by taking four shots and earning four penalty corners and not allowing the ball to cross midfield. The Regis defense was up to the task, however, as it kept Elms off the board long enough to finally get the ball into the Elms backfield.
Regis finally broke through with less than four minutes remaining in the half as the Pride finally capitalized on a corner opportunity. Stacy Burns received a pass from Walls, dribbled to her right, and blasted the ball opposite post. Melinda Sutton (Eliot, Maine) stepped in and tipped the ball home to give Regis the 1-0 lead before halftime. Elms had a pair of penalty corners with no time remaining, but neither resulted in a score as the game entered the break.
Elms found the equalizer only five minutes into the second half as Imogen Leonard (Sharon, Mass.) fired a shot on net that was tipped up into the air. The ball was swatted out of the air and into the back of the net by Kayla Narey to tie the score at 1-1.
Regis' Christine O'Toole (Boston, Mass.) had a chance to give Regis the lead with 18 minutes left in the game after she forced a turnover in the circle. O'Toole tried to go five-hole on Elms' Samantha Alvino (Holtsville, N.Y.), but Alvino stopped the ball short of the goal line and kicked the ball out of danger to preserve the 1-1 tie. The Pride took three more shots before the end of regulation and Alvino was there every time to make three saves as the game entered overtime.
In the first extra period, Elms had the opportunity to end the game early as Kristina Kopyscinski (Agawam, Mass.) got behind the Regis defense and went 1-on-1 with the Pride's Raegan Heck (Phillipston, Mass.). Heck came way off her line to force a rushed shot by Kopyscinski and cleared the ball out. Jaclyn Soderquist (Enfield, Conn.) had a chance for a putback, but Heck slapped the high shot out of the air and kept it a 1-1 score.
The Pride had two chances to win the game as Burns had a pair of shots tipped by O'Toole and Sam Anderson (Sandwich, Mass.), but O'Toole's try went wide of its mark and Anderson's was stopped by Alvino. The Pride were forced to play down a player following a yellow card in the final six minutes, but Elms could not capitalize as Regis hung on to force a second overtime.
Regis began the second extra period with two-straight penalty corners with the second resulting in a chance for Burns to win the game. After dribbling to her left, Burns wound up and fired a shot opposite post that was destined for the back of the net. However, just as she had earlier in the game, Ashley Reid was there for her second defensive save and kept the score tied.
With just over 10 minutes to play, the Pride earned their third penalty corner of the second overtime. Walls played the ball into Burns who swung the ball to her left to Christine O'Toole. O'Toole put a shot on net opposite post – just as Burns had done minutes before – but this time Reid could not get her stick on the ball as her foot kept the ball out of the back of the net, resulting in a penalty stroke for the Pride.
Stacy Burns calmly stepped to the line and shot the ball into the top right corner of the net to send the Pride to the NECC Championship match with the 2-1 victory.
Regis outshot the Elms at a 13-11 clip and held a 12-8 advantage in penalty corners. Raegan Heck made six saves in net for the Pride to grab her seventh win of the year. Samantha Alvino suffered the setback while making five saves.