CHICOPEE, MA - Elms College senior forward Tomie Lafond (Hatfield, MA) found the back of the night three times to help pace the Blazers to a hard-fought 4-2 victory over Regis College in Wednesday afternoon's season opener for both teams.
 
With the win, Elms improves to 1-0 overall, while Regis falls to 0-1 on the season.
 
Wednesday's win marks the third straight year that the Blazers have defeated the Pride, and for the second consecutive year that win came in the season opener.
 
Elms struck early as senior midfielder Danielle Boyer (South Hadley, MA) scored on a pass from senior forward Kaitlyn Graham (Paxton, MA) 7:26 into the contest.
 
The Blazers then jumped to a 3-0 lead when Lafond notched a pair of goals, both off feeds from junior forward Andrea Ramsdell (Gardner, MA) in the middle.
 
Regis cut the lead to 3-1 just before the half when Maria Mendes (Brockton, MA) placed the ball into the goal off a goalkeeper deflection.
 
Four minutes and 57 seconds into the second period, Lafond drilled in her third goal of the afternoon, this time on a rebound from a Boyer shot attempt, giving Elms a 4-1 advantage.
 
The Pride rallied for a score with just under five minutes remaining in the contest when Mendes netted the ball on a pass from Victoria Pappas (Niantic, CT), making the score 4-2.
 
Despite being out-shot 22-11, Blazers freshman goalkeeper Alexandra Bonavita (Agawam, MA) was a rock between the pipes, turning away 15 shots.
 
Lafond finished with five shots for Elms, while Mendes and Meghan Robohm (North Easton, MA) tallied nine shots each in the losing effort.
 
The Blazers return to action Saturday, Sept. 12 when they travel to the Vassar Invitational. Game-time against the Brewers is slated for 12:00 p.m.