BOSTON, Mass. – Once again, Regis College jumped out to an early lead, and then the Pride extended their advantage in the second half on the way to a 14-8 victory over Emmanuel College Monday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's lacrosse match at Roberto Clemente Field.
Kerri Anselmo (Natick, Mass.) led the Pride offense with six goals and five assists for 11 total points, while Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) finished with five goals and two assists. Defensively, Regis goalie Brittany McPherson (Lynn, Mass.) collected a season-high 13 saves as she ended up with a .619 save percentage in the match.
The combination of Anselmo and Kelly struck right away, as Kelly scored off an assist from Anselmo 34 seconds into the contest and then again just over one-and-a-half minutes later. Brooke Ross (Hanover, Mass.) scored on a free position shot before Emmanuel broke through with a goal by Kylie Rice off a free position opportunity.
The Pride extended their lead to 5-1 on goals by Rachel Nadeau (Coventry, Conn.) and Jordyn Ringuette (Colchester, Conn.). However, the Saints responded with consecutive goals by Emily Saef and Jessica Borduas to close to within two at 5-3 with 4:44 remaining in the first half.
Regis regained control of the match with four goals in the span of 1:43 late in the opening half, with Kelly and Anselmo each scoring twice and Anselmo assisting on both goals by Kelly. Ahead 9-3 at halftime, the Pride scored 20 seconds into the second half, this time Kelly assisting on a goal by Anselmo.
Emmanuel (4-4, 3-2 GNAC) cut into the Pride advantage with consecutive goals by Rice within 44 seconds of each other, but Regis responded with four unanswered goals, three of them by Anselmo with Kelly picking up an assist as well as the other goal in that stretch. Anselmo's goal with 17:15 remaining in the second half was the 200th point of her career, making Anselmo the fourth player in program history to collect at least 200 points at Regis.
Rice led the Saints with five goals and one assist, plus she picked up four draw controls to help Emmanuel earn the edge in that category, 14-9. Saint goalkeeper Bethany Bonilla made nine saves during the match.
The Pride caused 11 of Emmanuel's 28 turnovers, led by Meghan Sargent (Brattleboro, Vt.) with four caused turnovers along with four ground balls. This is the second straight season Regis has compiled a seven-game winning streak, as the team won seven straight games April 5-21, 2018.
Regis (7-1, 5-0 GNAC) continues its three-game road swing Wednesday, April 3, at Anna Maria beginning at 7 p.m.