WESTON, Mass. – Nine unanswered goals in the second half by the Regis College women's lacrosse team proved to be the difference maker, as the Pride defeated visiting Maine-Farmington, 16-8 in their season home opener. Regis improved to 1-2 on the young season, while the Beavers fall to 0-1.
The Pride were paced by sophomore Sam Salamone's (Milford, Mass.) five goals, one assist, and junior Grace Politis' (Billerica, Mass.) four goals and three assists. Lindsey Graver (Bellingham, Mass.) also pitched in with a pair of goals and one helper.
Salamone gave the Pride an early 1-0 lead after cutting through the defense and beating goalkeeper Hannah Goodenow (Freeport, Maine) in the first 17 seconds of the game. The Beavers responded seven minutes later with back-to-back goals to take their first lead of the game after Maddi Kadnar (Oakland, Maine) and Haley Binette (Alfred, Maine) each tallied an unassisted goal.
The Pride would score the next three goals courtesy of a pair from Politis with a Graver free position goal sandwiched in between. Mara Balboni (Oakland, Maine), who netted a team-high three goals for Farmington, cut the deficit to one at the 13:17 mark.
Minutes later, Salamone cut in front of the defense and finished off a Politis pass to give the Pride a 5-3 lead. Ayla Allen (Rumford, Maine) and Balboni notched back-to-back goals, however, to tie the game at five apiece with 8:27 remaining in the half.
Salamone and Politis would score the final two goals of the half to give Regis a 7-5 advantage heading into the break. Salamone's goal came courtesy of a Graver assist, while Politis had an unassisted goal.
The Pride came out of the second half on fire, notching the next nine goals of the contest while keeping the Beavers off the scoreboard through the first 18 minutes of the final 30. Walls opened up the scoring in the half before Salamone added a pair of goals, followed by a Graver tally off an assist from Politis.
Junior midfielder Teresa Busiek (Arlington, Mass.) scored her first goal of the season on a free position shot and assisted on a Katie Haidemenos (Warwick, R.I.) goal less than a minute later to extend the lead to 13-5 by the 22:57 mark. Stacy Burns (Waltham, Mass.) finished off a Politis pass before Politis and sophomore Abbie Wehr (Suwanee, Ga.) each added free position goals to close out the scoring streak. It was the first goal of the season for Wehr.
The Beavers finally got back on the scoreboard with 12:00 to play on an unassisted goal by Allen. She sparked a three goal scoring streak for the visitors, who also got contributions from Binette and Balboni off of assists from Alaina Shorey (Lebanon, Maine) and Kadnar, respectively. Unfortunately for Farmington it proved to be too little, too late as Regis hung on for the 16-8 victory.
Sophomore goalkeeper Emma Decker (Southborough, Mass.) finished with a game-high 15 saves for the Crimson & Gold, while Goodenow made 12 stops on the day for her squad. Balboni added six ground balls and four draw controls in the losing effort for Farmington.
Politis had a game-high eight ground balls and four caused turnovers for the Pride, while Salamone also chipped in with a game-high five draw controls.
Regis will return to the pitch on Thursday, March 20 for a 5 p.m. home contest against Thomas (Me.), while the Beavers will travel to take on Becker next Saturday, March 22 for a 1 p.m. non-conference contest.