WESTON, Mass. – Two first half goals by visiting Eastern Connecticut State University proved to be too much to overcome for the Regis field hockey team, as the Warriors held on to beat the Pride, 2-1 on Thursday evening at Regis Stadium. With the loss, the Pride drop to 3-13 (2-3 NECC) on the year, while the Warriors improve to 6-11 (2-8 LEC) with the nonconference win.

Eastern Connecticut capitalized on an opportunity following their fourth penalty corner of the game. After Finley Ahearn (Wallingford, Conn.) played the ball in, Laura Chicorka (Enfield, Conn.) fed Deisy Naranjo (Washington Heights, N.Y.), who took a low, hard shot that beat goalkeeper Raegan Heck (Phillipston, Mass.) on the right side for the 1-0 advantage in the 20th minute.

Just over five minutes later, the Warriors would get on the board again. After a scramble in front of the goal, Hannah Keiser (Danbury, Mass.) scored her fifth goal of the season when she knocked the ball past Heck off a pass from Hannah Collier (Watertown, Conn.). Eastern Connecticut carried the 2-0 lead into halftime.

Coming off of the break, the Pride picked up their intensity. Regis was finally rewarded in the 54th minute of play following a series of three penalty corners from Devan Wirtanen (Westminster, Mass.). Shortly after the ball was played in on the third corner, Laurie DeMars (Maynard, Mass.) made a pass to Christine O'Toole (Boston, Mass.), who took a low shot that got past Olivia Mullen (Bethel, Conn.) to cut the lead in half.

Unfortunately the Crimson & Gold were unable to get on the board again despite some good buildups. Offensively, Regis was paced by Cheyenne Genga (South Windsor, Conn.), who tallied three shots in the contest. Sophomore Gen Gudiel (Lawrence, Mass.) was solid defensively all game for Regis and prevented the visitors from adding to their lead. Heck also had a strong showing, finishing the game with five saves, while Mullen finished with three saves.

Regis will get back in action for a critical NECC matchup on Saturday as the team travels to Wheelock for a 1:00 p.m. game. The Warriors will host Bridgewater State, also on Saturday, with a game time scheduled for 12:00 p.m.