WESTON, Mass. - Pride freshman Kerri Anselmo (Natick, Mass.) scored 3:38 into the first overtime on Wednesday night, lifting the Regis (Mass.) women's lacrosse team to a 12-11 win over Wheelock in New England Collegiate Conference play at Regis Stadium.
With the win, Regis improves to 10-2 on the season and stays perfect in NECC play at 5-0. Wheelock suffers its first NECC loss of the season, falling to 3-1 in conference and 4-1 overall.
Wheelock goalkeeper Meghan Lewis (South Berwick, Maine) had the NECC leading scorer Anselmo's number in the first half, before the rookie Pride attacker broke through in the second half and again in overtime. Anselmo was stopped point blank by Lewis on six occasions, but Anselmo would have the last laugh when she scored her fourth goal - all after halftime - of the evening to beat Wheelock in overtime.
Three straight goals from Wheelock junior Kate Frade (Dartmouth, Mass.) in the first half gave the Wildcats a 4-2 edge with 8:15 remaining in the first, but goals 25 seconds apart from the Pride's Emily Kosak (Milton, Mass.) and Nicole Roche (Waltham, Mass.) tied the score back up at four with just over four minutes remaining in the opening half, a score that would hold until the halftime buzzer.
The Pride and Wildcats went back and forth in the second half, and a goal from Anselmo with 3:49 remaining in regulation appeared to potentially be the game-winner, but Wheelock refused to go down quietly. Wildcat sophomore Georgia Schindele (Sparkill, N.Y.) scored an equalizing goal with no time remaining on the clock to tie the game at 11 and force overtime.
Lewis sparkled in the overtime period for the Wildcats before Anselmo was finally able to break through. Lewis made three saves in the overtime period, finishing the night with an impressive 17 saves overall in the losing effort. Maresa Malcolm (Barrington, N.J.) made two saves for the Pride to earn the win.
Following Anselmo's game-high four goals, Kosak, senior Arianna Woodley (Norwood, Mass.) and freshman Brooke Ross (Hanover, Mass.) all had two goals for the Pride. Frade, Schindele and sophomore Colleen Macdonald (Sandwich, Mass.) each had hat tricks to lead the Wildcat offense.
The Pride will be off until Apr. 18, when they take to Becker College for a game against the Hawks at 4:00 p.m. Southern Vermont is next of the docket for the Wildcats, as Wheelock will travel north to Bennington to take on the Mountaineers on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
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