WESTON, Mass. – Junior forward Kelsey Morton (S. Portland, Maine) scored the difference maker in the 23rd minute of play as the Regis College field hockey team used goals in the first half to defeat New England Collegiate Conference rival Bay Path University 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at Regis Stadium. The victory propelled the Pride to 2-1, 1-0 NECC and with the loss, the Wildcats remain winless at 0-2, 0-1 NECC.
Bay Path's offense started the contest with possession down in the Pride's defensive zone. An early Regis foul opened up the door for the Wildcats first corner of the contest. Freshman forward Ashley Seiferheld (Dover Plains, N.Y.) took the corner and passed the ball off to sophomore forward Casey LaMotte (Enfield, Conn.). LaMotte wasted no time and ripped a one-timer towards the cage, but was stifled by Pride goaltender Raegan Heck (Phillipston, Mass.).
The Wildcats had another chance to draw first blood after another corner opportunity. Senior midfielder Elizabeth Deane (Agawam, Mass.) received the ball 10 yards out from the cage and fired a shot attempt towards the goal that was blocked by Regis senior forward Laurie DeMars (Maynard, Mass.). Bay Path had one more corner attempt after the blocked shot, but Deane's second shot ended up wide of the net.
Three minutes later, the Pride capitalized on their first corner of the contest. Freshman midfielder Alycia LeConche (Simsbury, Conn.) took the attempt and passed it off to teammate Kiana Koke (Queensbury, N.Y.) Koke corralled the ball, made a centering pass in front back to LeConche who buried the shot into the open net for her first career collegiate goal. LeConche's tally gave Regis an early 1-0 lead.
Both squads exchanged possession numerous times, while the Pride had two more shots on goal before they finally broke through in the 23rd minute. Kelsey Morton was standing in the right place at the right time as the ball deflected to her and she fired a shot to the left of the cage past the goalie increasing the Pride lead to 2-0.
Bay Path had three more chances before the break, but Raegan Heck made two saves to keep the score at 2-0 during the intermission.
Regis remained ahead during the second half before the Wildcats finally got on the board. During the 58th minute, junior defender Kristen Oliveira (Thorndike, Mass.) ripped a shot towards the net. The ball hit off a Pride defender and bounced into the air. Freshman forward Rachel Koblosh (Enfield, Conn.) tipped the ball with her sick and changed the direction of the ball which ended up crossing the goal line. The officials reviewed the goal with each other to make sure she wasn't standing in the circle and the goal was upheld cutting the Pride lead to 2-1 with 12 minutes to go.
The Wildcats had one more chance to knot up the score in the waning seconds as freshman forward Sabrinna Dubiel (Agawam, Mass.) took a shot off a corner chance, but was blocked by a Regis defender. She followed the loose ball and ripped another shot on net, but was turned away by Heck and the Pride defensive unit. The seconds ticked off the clock and the Pride held on to beat the Wildcats 2-1.
Raegan Heck made four saves during the victory and improved to 2-1 on the young season. Anna Meyer (Millbrook, N.Y.) took the loss and made three saves during the defeat.
The Pride remain home in Weston for the next contest, a non-conference duel against Colby-Sawyer on September 16th at 4:00 p.m.