WESTON, Mass. – Thanks to a four-match winning streak at the end of the regular season, Regis College enters the 2019 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Field Hockey Tournament with momentum and confidence.
The Pride enter the tournament as the fifth seed and will travel to Paxton, Mass., to face fourth seed Anna Maria College Saturday, Nov. 2, starting at 11 a.m. in a first round contest. The winner of the Pride-AMCAT match will head to Standish, Maine, to go against top seed Saint Joseph's College in one semifinal Wednesday, Nov. 6, with the tournament championship match scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9, at the highest remaining seed.
Two weeks ago, Regis entered its Senior Day match against Colby-Sawyer College with an 0-4 league record. A dominating 3-0 victory over the Chargers became the first of three straight shutouts for the Pride, and Regis clinched its spot in the postseason conference tournament with a 4-2 victory at Johnson & Wales Wednesday evening.
Freshman Sheridan Blaha (Waltham, Mass.) has been Regis' scoring leader throughout the season, setting new school single-season records for most goals with 16 and most points with 33. Blaha scored the first goal of the Colby-Sawyer match and the only goal with 8:17 remaining in regulation in a 1-0 victory over Rivier Oct. 24.
The Pride has also received strong leadership during the year, including from senior tri-captain Ashley Chipman (Stoughton, Mass.), as she has played all three field positions (forward, midfield, back) when needed and most recently has collected one goal and one assist in each of the past two matches. Fellow senior Sidney Lowe (Lancaster, Mass.), also a tri-captain, missed four matches due to injury in the middle of the season, but has come back to solidify the Pride midfield, plus she scored the insurance goal in the fourth period against JWU.
Mary Costantino (Abington, Mass.), the third senior on this year's squad, has continually worked throughout the season on her ball-handling and passing to help the team. The third captain is junior goalkeeper Hope Winkin (Winslow, Maine), a steady presence in net for the Pride with a 1.95 goals against average, a .707 save percentage with 82 saves, and five shutouts.
Jamie Juskiewicz (Gorham, Maine) is second on the team in scoring with five goals and 12 total points, while fellow junior Joslyn O'Brien (Petersham, Mass.) and sophomore Hope Celli (Pembroke, Mass.) have scored three goals apiece. Meanwhile, Blaha has not been the only newcomer to make an immediate impact, as Nora Buck (Shawmut, Maine) has collected three goals and four assists and Amelia Thomas (Hopkinton, N.H.) has contributed three goals and two assists.
Anna Maria enters Saturday's match with an 8-8 record, having won four of its last six matches, including a 2-1 victory over Rivier Wednesday. Anne Melanson leads the AMCATS with six goals, followed by Lauren Lapierre and Calli McLaughlin with five goals apiece.
Chayna Bingham-Hendricks has scored four goals and dished out a team-high eight assists so far this season for Anna Maria. Hannah Tobey has been the AMCATS' starting goalie during the second half of the season, posting a 7-3 record with a 1.24 goals against average and a .794 save percentage with 50 saves.
This will be the 25th meeting between Regis and Anna Maria since 1993, with the AMCATS holding a 15-9 series advantage. The two teams have been conference rivals in three different leagues and will be meeting in postseason play for the fifth time, with the teams splitting the previous four meetings. The last conference tournament match between the two was the NECC Championship Nov. 2, 2013, won by Anna Maria in overtime, 3-2.
Earlier this season on Oct. 4, Regis faced Anna Maria in their regular season matchup. There was no score until Chipman scored off an assist by Thomas with 3:04 remaining in the third period. With 6:53 left in the fourth period, Lapierre set up Abigayle Celata for the game-tying goal, and then Melanson scored off another Lapierre assist with 2:45 remaining in the first overtime period to win the match for the AMCATS, 2-1. Both Winkin and Tobey were credited with four saves.
Regis, 7-10 overall entering Saturday's match, will be competing in the GNAC Tournament for the first time since joining the league in 2017. The Pride won the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Tournament in 2011, 2014, and 2016.