WESTON, Mass. – Top-seeded Regis College captured its second-straight New England Collegiate Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship following a 13-9 victory over No. 3 Becker College on Saturday afternoon in Weston, Mass.
Junior Grace Politis (Billerica, Mass.) scored five goals and added a pair of assists to go with nine groundballs and four caused turnovers en route to being named the Tournament MVP. The Pride's Stacy Burns (Waltham, Mass.), Becka Sarson (York, Maine), and Teresa Busiek (Arlington, Mass.) joined Politis on the All-Tournament Team.
Becker had four players named to the All-Tournament Team in Shelby Wicks (Shaftsbury, Vt.), Ashley Mossey (Ballston Lake, N.Y.), Tatum Fahs (Foster, R.I.), and Alyssa Bond (Thompson, Conn.). Other members of the All-Tournament Team included Elms College's Brianna Lyons (Canton, Mass.) and Kathleen Tuechler (Farmingdale, N.Y.) as well as Wheelock College's Molly Centrone (Kennebunk, Maine) and Emma Marrs (Old Lyme, Conn.).
Becker jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on the Pride following a free position goal and an unassisted tally from Tatum Fahs. Politis got Regis on the board nearly nine minutes later as Stacy Burns found the junior in front of the net with a high pass to make it a 2-1 game. Becker's Ashley Mossey kept it a two goal game with a free position shot, before Politis hit Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.) for a goal to cut the deficit back to 3-2.
The back-and-forth continued when Rachel Welling (Charlestown, N.H.) entered the scoring column on a pass from Fahs that made it 4-2. Stacy Burns and Ashley Mossey traded goals later in the period to make it 5-3 as play wound down to the final minute. Politis scored on a pass from Burns to make it a one goal game again with 34 seconds remaining, and 19 seconds later, tied the game with a pass from Salamone to knot the game at 5-5 headed into the half.
Politis' third goal of the game was her 200th career goal, and she becomes the first Regis women's lacrosse player to ever cross the 200 goal threshold.
Out of the half, Fahs put Becker back on top as she weaved through the Pride defense for an unassisted goal and a 6-5 lead for the Hawks. Salamone netted back-to-back scores for Regis to give the home team their first lead of the game with 24:45 remaining in regulation. Christina Boucher (Pawcatuck, Conn.) tied the game at 7-7 as Fahs hit her with a quick pass on the clear attempt for a goal.
The Pride answered with three-straight goals on tallies by Politis, Salamone, and Busiek to take a 10-7 lead with 15:11 remaining in the game. Boucher kept it a two-goal game at 10-8 a few minutes later with a free position goal, but another three-goal spurt from the Pride pushed the Pride lead to 13-8 and out of reach for the Hawks. Lindsey Graver (Bellingham, Mass.), Politis, and Mary Roma (Portland, Maine) recorded the final goals for the Pride. Ashley Mossey converted a free position goal for the Hawks with 6:34 remaining, but the Pride defense held strong over the final minutes, running out the clock, and clinching the Pride's second NECC crown with the 13-9 win.
Regis outshot the Hawks at a 33-20 clip and held a slight advantage in groundballs, 30-26. Becker went 4-for-5 on its free position attempts, compared to just 2-for-8 for the Pride, but the Hawks lost the turnover battle, committing 26 missteps to 20 for Regis.
Sam Salamone had a seven point day for the Pride with four goals and three assists and also added six groundballs. Teresa Busiek had three assists as well as seven groundballs, four draw controls, and a pair of caused turnovers. Stacy Burns scored a pair of goals and had an assist, while Rachel Gagnon (Ashford, Conn.) had three groundballs and four caused turnovers. Emma Decker (Southborough, Mass.) picked up her 14th win of the season, making six saves in the game.
Tatum Fahs led the Becker attack with three goals, two assists, four groundballs, and a pair of caused turnovers. Ashley Mossey also posted a hat-trick to go with a team-high seven groundballs and five draw controls. Christina Boucher netted a pair of goals. Katelin Burdick (Pawcatuck, Conn.) added four groundballs and a pair of caused turnovers for the Hawks' defense. Shelby Wicks made 14 saves on 27 shots faced in the setback.
The Pride (14-3) now await word on a possible postseason berth with the NCAA Tournament field being announced Monday afternoon. Becker wraps up its season at 9-7 overall.