WESTON, Mass. – Regis College used the same formula that has brought success this season, controlling the first half and not allowing its opponent any momentum in the second half, as the Pride defeated Colby-Sawyer College, 13-8, Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's lacrosse match at Regis Stadium.
Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) scored five goals, while Kerri Anselmo (Natick, Mass.) finished with four goals and four assists for eight total points. Regis controlled possession by winning 17 of 23 draw controls, led by Brooke Ross (Hanover, Mass.) with nine draw controls.
Regis struck first less than three minutes into the contest as Anselmo found Kelly for her first goal of the match. Just under two minutes later, Colby-Sawyer tied the contest when Caroline Tompkins scored her third goal of the season off an assist by Jess Tattersall.
The Pride pulled ahead two minutes after the Charger goal on Kelly's second tally of the game, followed by consecutive goals by Anselmo 17 seconds apart to increase the Regis advantage to 4-1. Anselmo fed Kelly on back-to-back goals 1:09 apart to extend the Pride lead to 6-1 with 12:09 remaining in the first half.
Emily Kosak (Milton, Mass.) continued the Pride offensive charge with a goal, and then Anselmo scored two more goals, the first off an assist by Taylor Assarian (Arlington, Mass.), to establish a 9-1 advantage for the Pride. The Chargers finally put some offense together, as Sarah Morin scored with eight seconds remaining in the first half and two-and-a-half minutes into the second half to cut the Regis lead to 9-3.
Colby-Sawyer (9-4, 7-3 GNAC) scored consecutive goals on two more occasions in the second half. However, the Chargers were not able to get any closer than four goals behind, as the Pride scored four second half goals, led by Rachel Nadeau (Coventry, Conn.) with two goals along with single tallies by Jordyn Ringuette (Colchester, Conn.) and Kelly.
Defensively, the Pride caused 15 of Colby-Sawyer's 25 turnovers, led by Maddy Rodriguez (Amherst, Mass.) with four caused turnovers. Brittany McPherson (Lynn, Mass.) collected a career-high 15 saves, including 11 saves in the second half to prevent the Chargers from starting a rally, as she posted a .652 save percentage.
Morin led the Chargers with three goals and an assist, while Tattersall finished with two goals and one assist. Sierra Schuster and Jamie Wood ended up with six ground balls apiece, with Wood causing four turnovers and Schuster adding three caused turnovers. Kailyn Lapham played the entire match in net for Colby-Sawyer and finished with eight saves.
Colby-Sawyer will play at Nichols Wednesday, April 17, starting at 4 p.m. before concluding its inaugural regular season in the GNAC against Johnson & Wales Saturday, April 20, at 1 p.m.
Before the match, seniors Assarian, Kelly, Malorie Kiehl (Burlington, Mass.), Kiana Koke (Queensbury, N.Y.), and Kosak were honored in Senior Day ceremonies.
Regis (12-1, 9-0 GNAC) travels to Nashua, N.H., to face Rivier University Wednesday, April 17, starting at 7 p.m. The Pride close out the regular season the following Wednesday, April 24, at home against Johnson & Wales beginning at 6 p.m.