WESTON, Mass. – In a close contest throughout the night, Dean College took the lead at the start of the second half and held on to defeat Regis College, 18-15, Tuesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse match at Regis Stadium.
Morgan Pero (Hartford, Vt.) led the Pride with a career-high seven goals, while Isabella Beane (Marlborough, Mass.) and Kylee Marley (Westerly, R.I.) each notched a hat trick with three goals apiece. Maire Brown led the Bulldogs with nine goals and nine draw controls, while Nina Medeiros finished with five goals for the visitors.
Jazzy Sztyler-Magee struck first just 14 seconds into the match, but goals by Pero and Marley 1:46 apart gave the Pride a 2-1 lead. The momentum would continue to swing back and forth in the first quarter, with goals by Marley and Pero in the final minute of the period allowing Regis to take a 6-5 lead into the second stanza.
Brown tied the match at 6-6 two minutes into the second quarter, but Pero and Beane would score as Regis retook the lead at 8-6. The Bulldogs battled back with goals by Natalie Peterson and Brown to tie the contest at 8-8 heading into halftime.
Dean (4-9, 4-7 GNAC) took the lead for good early in the third quarter with three goals by Brown off assists from three different players in the span of 1:26. Pero would score midway through the period, then assist on a goal by Beane to bring the Pride within one, but Medeiros would tally two goals late in the quarter to increase the Dean lead to 13-11 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs would take their largest lead of the night at four goals on two occasions thanks to two goals by Medeiros. The Pride battled back with three unanswered goals, culminating with a tally by Marley with 4:53 left in regulation to close the Regis deficit to one at 16-15. However, Dean would put the match away on goals by Medeiros and Sztyler-Magee.
Grace Heffernan (Winchester, Mass.) kept the Pride in the match with a season-high 16 saves, while Jada Fields made 10 saves to earn the victory for the Bulldogs. Marley and Brielle Kendrioski (Guilford, Conn.) led Regis with seven groundballs apiece, and Sztyler-Magee finished with six groundballs to pace Dean.
Regis College (2-12, 2-9 GNAC) heads to Providence, R.I., to face Johnson and Wales Saturday, April 23, starting at 12 p.m. The Pride close out the regular season at home against Elms College next Tuesday, April 26, beginning at 7 p.m.