WESTON, Mass. – Regis College held the early lead through halftime, but a second half flurry by Saint Joseph's College allowed the Monks to defeat the Pride, 3-1, Wednesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's soccer match at Regis Stadium.
Saint Joseph's (4-0, 2-0 GNAC) gained possession right away and started pressuring the Regis defense, but starting goalie Oriana Attridge (Westwood, Mass.) stymied the Monks in the first 15 minutes with six saves. McKenzie Murphy kept attacking the Pride net with two more shots in the next five minutes, but both were off-target.
Regis finally gained possession and rushed down the field into the Monk defensive zone, led by Rachel Kelly's (Whitman, Mass.) dribbling into the box. Kelly sent a ball towards net that deflected off Saint Joseph's goalie Adia Grogan, and the ball found Kaylee Francis (Millis, Mass.), who guided it into the net for her third goal of the season.
Down 1-0 at halftime, Saint Joseph's once again gained control of the action, as Haley DaGraca slipped past the Regis defense on a breakaway after Grogan turned away a shot by Bailey Elliot (Tolland, Conn.). DaGraca was able to slide a shot past Attridge less than one-and-a-half minutes into the second half, tying the match at 1-1.
Attridge made a couple more saves early in the second half to keep the match tied up, but DaGraca again turned the momentum in the Monks' favor in the 69th minute, this time blasting a shot from the right wing about 25 yards away into the upper left corner of the net to put Saint Joseph's ahead, 2-1. DaGraca completed her hat trick in the 82nd minute by converting a free kick from 20 yards out on the left wing.
Attridge finished with a season-high nine saves as she played all 90 minutes for the first time in her collegiate career. Grogan picked up her fourth win in as many matches with four saves, but she did allow her first goal of the season with Francis's tally in the 22nd minute.
The Monks outshot the Pride, 22-6, led by DaGraca with five shots and four shots each from Colleen Sheehan and Murphy. Saint Joseph's also drew all five corner kicks granted during the contest.
Regis (3-2, 1-1 GNAC) hosts the University of St. Joseph Saturday, Sept. 15, starting at 2:30 p.m. at Regis Stadium. Saint Joseph's heads back on the road, traveling to Nashua, N.H., to face Rivier Saturday, Sept. 15, at 1 p.m.