WESTON, Mass. – Sophomore midfielder Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.) recorded five goals and two assists, and classmate Emma Decker (Southborough, Mass.) made 14 saves on 23 shots faced, as the Regis College women's lacrosse team earned a hard-fought 11-9 win against visiting Rivier University on Monday evening. The Pride grab their fourth straight win and improve to 4-2 on the season, while Rivier falls to 3-2.
The Raiders got out to a quick start by scoring the first two goals of the contest. Vanessa Viola (Nashua, N.H.) scored at the 28:21 mark off a quick pass in front by Jessica Amaral (East Providence, R.I.) for the 1-0 lead, before Viola assisted Rebecca Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.) to double the visitors' advantage one minute later.
The Pride found their way onto the scoreboard with 21:01 remaining after junior Teresa Busiek (Arlington, Mass.) grabbed a ground ball, curled through the defense, and sent the ball into the back of the net. Abbie Wehr (Suwanee, Ga.) tied the game up at two apiece less than 30 seconds later after she cut from behind the goal and shot the ball top shelf.
Viola responded with back-to-back goals, the first of which was unassisted, and a second which was assisted by Amaral, to regain a two goal lead for Rivier at just about the halfway point of the opening stanza. The Pride answered back by scoring the next six goals, however, to take an 8-4 lead into the break.
Busiek connected on a low shot after a pass from Salamone before Salamone scored back-to-back goals via a free position shot and a Busiek feed. Busiek then scored her third and final goal of the game with 6:43 to play in the half. Rachel Wong (Wakefield, Mass.) ran with the ball on a fast break and hit Busiek with a quick pass, where she cut right and scored for the 6-4 lead. Salamone closed out the half with a pair of free position shots with 5:19 and 13 seconds remaining, respectively.
Regis continued the scoring streak by netting the first two goals of the second half, which came courtesy of Wong and Salamone. Rivier finally broke their drought with 11:54 to play when Amanda Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.) beat Decker on a free position shot.
Minutes later, Salamone would make a pass in front to a curling Grace Politis (Billerica, Mass.), who scored top shelf on Danielle Moran (San Diego, Calif.) to give her squad an 11-5 lead.
Rivier launched a furious rally over the last eight minutes of the game, which included four unanswered goals by three different players. Amanda Wickens received a quick pass in front from Savannah Neuwirt (Newbury, N.H.) off the restart, and scored with 8:20 left, while Elena Reilly (Braintree, Mass.) scored 31 seconds later after a feed from Wickens.
Hannah Wyatt (Merrimack, N.H.) scored on a free position with 3:45 remaining, while Reilly tallied her second goal of the game with 38 seconds to play. Despite their best efforts, the visitors came up just short as Regis held on for an 11-9 win.
Viola led the Raiders with three goals, one assist, five ground balls, and three draw controls. Amanda Wickens was not far behind with two goals, one assist, and six ground balls. Moran finished with five saves in the losing effort.
Salamone finished with a team-leading six ground balls and a game-high seven draw control wins to go along with her seven points on the night. Busiek came in with three goals and one assist, while she also scooped up four ground balls and won two draw controls.
The Pride return to action tomorrow afternoon when they open up New England Collegiate Conference play on the road at Mitchell College. The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start. Rivier will next host Framingham State at 7 p.m. on Thursday.