CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College scored a pair of second half goals as the Blazers defeated Regis College, 3-1, in New England Collegiate Conference field hockey action on Tuesday night at Leary Field. With the win, Elms improves to 7-10 overall, 5-1 in NECC action, while Regis moves to 3-12 on the season, 2-3 in league play.

The Blazers raced to an early lead just 2:04 into the game when sophomore forward Jaclyn Soderquist (Enfield, Conn.) set up a penalty corner and delivered a pass to junior midfielder Brianna Lyons (Canton, Mass.) who passed to sophomore defender Ashley Reid (Enfield, Conn.) who then returned the ball to Soderquist who tipped it into the back of the cage to give Elms a 1-0 lead.

With just under 10 minutes to play in the opening period, following a diving defensive save by Reid, Regis was awarded a penalty stroke which Cheyenne Genga (South Windsor, Conn.) deposited into the lower left corner of the net to square the game at 1-1.

With the score still tied at 1-1 in the 55th minute of play, sophomore forward Emma Morgan (Wakefield, R.I.) put Elms ahead, 2-1 when Soderquist drove the ball in front of the net and Morgan was able to control it and punch into the cage to give the Blazers a one goal edge.

Five minutes later, Elms delivered its third scoring strike of the game thanks to a perfectly placed long feed from sophomore forwards Meghan Goodrow (Sunderland, Mass.) to freshman forward Kristina Kopyscinski (Agawam, Mass.) who beat the keeper to the left side to extend the advantage to 3-1.

From there, Alexandra Bonavita (Agawam, Mass.) made two stellar saves to stave off a Pride rally and lift the Blazers to their best ever record in conference action. Bonavita made seven saves in the win.

Morgan, Kopyscinski, Soderquist and junior forward Kayla Narey (South Hadley, Mass.) each fired two shots on goal for the Blazers, while Regis received two shots on goal from Genga, Devan Wirtanen (Westminster, Mass.) and Shelby Looney (Leicester, Mass.) to lead the respective offensive efforts.

Pride goalkeeper Raegan Heck (Phillipston, Mass.) turned away seven shots in the losing effort.

Regis returns to action on Thursday night when the Pride hosts Eastern Connecticut State University in a non-league game at 6:00 p.m.

Release courtesy of Elms College Sports Information