WESTON, Mass. - In a defensive battle, Regis College was able to break away in the second half and held off UMass Boston for an 8-5 victory Saturday afternoon in a non-conference women's lacrosse match at Regis Stadium.

After a scoreless first quarter, Regis struck first early in the second quarter when Hope Alto (Boston, Mass.) found Madeline Conover (West Newbury, Mass.) in front of the net for Conover's seventh goal of the season. The Beacons tied the match at 1-1 on a successful free position shot by Mia Boyd, but the Pride retook the lead one-and-a-half minutes later on a goal by Serenity Ayala (North Brookfield, Mass.) off an assist from Mia Rogers (Revere, Mass.).

After Angelina Mazzone tied the match at 2-2 less than one minute later, the Pride took the lead for good with 2:38 remaining in the first half on an unassisted goal by Rogers. In the third quarter, Alto scored off an assist from Izzy Cochrane (Hooksett, N.H.), and Kylee Marley (Westerly, R.I.) followed with a successful free position shot 24 seconds later to extend the Regis advantage to 5-2.

UMass Boston fought back by scoring the next two goals, as Boyd and Liz Kramp scored to pull the Beacons back within one at 5-4. Just 20 seconds after Kramp's goal, Maddey Strickland (Hopkinton, Mass.) collected her first goal of the season, starting another 3-0 scoring run for the Pride as Alto and Retta Hatin (Hooksett, N.H.) picked up goals 41 seconds apart early in the fourth quarter to take control of the contest.

In addition to her two goals and one assist, Alto collected 10 draw controls as Regis won 14 of the 16 draw controls in the match. Audrey Mason (West Springfield, Mass.) finished with a team-high five groundballs, plus she was one of four Pride players to earn two caused turnovers to pace the team defensively.

Daniela Mazo (Bridgeport, Conn.) started in goal for the Pride and made four saves before Allayna Martone (Elkridge, Md.) took over in the second half and collected five saves. Laura Falandys played the entire match in net for the Beacons and was credited with seven saves as she kept her team close.

Regis College (4-1) enters its conference schedule with a home match against league newcomer Mitchell College Wednesday, March 20, starting at 4 p.m. UMass Boston (0-5) travels to face Emerson College Monday, March 18, beginning at 7 p.m.