NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Regis (Mass.) women's soccer team kept its hopes alive for a conference tournament berth, earning a critical 3-1 win at Norwich Wednesday in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action.
Regis (3-7-1, 2-6-1 GNAC) scored twice in the opening 16 minutes with Abby Flaherty (Millbury, Mass.) scoring her first at the 11:21 mark off an assist from Payton Fitzgerald (Danielson, Conn.). Flaherty tucked the ball into the left side of the net after receiving a pass from the right side of the field from Fitzgerald.
Madison Oelker scored in the 25th minute with her third goal of the season after she stripped the ball from a Regis defender and broke away for a 1-on-1 with the goalie. Oelker side stepped the charging Regis goalkeeper with a move to her left and then slipped the ball into the back of the net to cut Regis' lead in half.
Fitzgerald scored her team-leading seventh goal of the season on a rebound in the box after NU goalkeeper Katie Bishop-Manning (New York, N.Y.) made an initial save on the first shot from Brianna Gaynor (Peabody, Mass.) but she couldn't control the rebound and Fitzgerald pounced on it and put the ball in the back of the net to the right side.
Oelker cut into the deficit a little under 10 minutes later with her goal but that's as close as Norwich would get.
The Cadets had a golden opportunity to tie the game up in the 54th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick after a Regis player was whistled for a hand ball in the box. However, Danielle Johnson's (Groton, Mass.) bid was turned aside by Regis goalkeeper Kyrsten Drake for one of her four saves in the game.
Regis added an insurance tally in the 85th minute with Rachel Kelly (Whitman, Mass.) scoring off an assist from the left by Gaynor. Kelly buried the ball into the left corner of the net from about 12 yards out after receiving the pass from Gaynor.
Norwich's Bishop-Manning made seven saves to fall to 2-5 on the season.
With the loss, Norwich (2-10-0, 1-8-0 GNAC) was officially eliminated from GNAC postseason contention.
The Pride return to action Saturday, Oct. 14 at Emmanuel.
#RegisWSOC