WESTON, Mass. - Regis College attempted to rally back from a significant deficit, but University of Saint Joseph held off the Pride in a 9-7 victory Tuesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse match at Regis Stadium.

Hope Alto (Boston, Mass.) led the Pride with six goals, her third match this season with at least that many goals, along with 13 draw controls and six groundballs. Anna LeGault led the Blue Jays with three goals and two assists, while Alana Picard and Reagan Buscetto scored two goals apiece.

The Blue Jays jumped on the board first as LeGault set up Paige Rieger for a goal just over a minute into the match. Alto would convert a free position attempt 65 seconds later, but Buscetto would pick up her first goal 65 seconds after that to put USJ back on top, 2-1.

Midway through the first half, Alto took advantage of an extra-player opportunity, tying the game with an unassisted tally. Shortly after that, Allayna Martone (Elkridge, Md.) made a save on a shot by Picard, the Pride raced down the field on a counterattack, and Kylee Marley (Westerly, R.I.) found Alto alone at the left post for an open net goal to give Regis its only lead of the night.

With 3:02 remaining in the first quarter, LeGault scored off an assist from Picard to tie the match at 3-3. The Blue Jays would score four goals in the second quarter without allowing any, including consecutive free position goals by LeGault late in the period to extend the USJ advantage to 7-3 heading into halftime.

Just over a minute into the third quarter, Ashley Rufo scored a goal off an assist from Brianna Cannon, and then Picard converted her second free position goal of the match to give the Blue Jays their largest lead of the night at 9-3 with eight minutes left in the period.

Audrey Mason (West Springfield, Mass.) would score an unassisted goal with 20 seconds left in the third quarter to start the Regis rally. Alto scored all three goals in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back tallies 13 seconds apart to pull the Pride within two goals with 3:42 left in regulation, but Rufo won the ensuing draw control and, after an exchange of turnovers, USJ was able to run out the clock.

Colleen Stringer made eight saves as she picked up the victory for the Blue Jays. Martone made six saves in the first half before Daniela Mazo (Bridgeport, Conn.) took over after halftime and was credited with one save in the second half.

USJ (12-4, 6-1 GNAC South, 10-1 GNAC) will be the second seed out of the GNAC South Division and will host Colby-Sawyer College in a quarterfinal match of the 2024 GNAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday, April 27.

Regis (9-7, 5-2 GNAC South, 5-6 GNAC) ends up as the third seed out of the GNAC South Division and will travel to face Saint Joseph's College, the second seed from the GNAC North, in another quarterfinal of the 2024 GNAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament Saturday, April 27.