WESTON, Mass. – Regis College's Kristen Abreu (Woburn, Mass.) netted a pair of second half goals to help propel the Pride past Lyndon State College, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon in non-conference women's soccer action in Weston, Mass. Regis improves to 2-0 on the young year, while the Hornets drop to 0-2.
The two teams played to a draw in the opening half as both teams had their chances but came away empty-handed. Nearly 10 minutes into the game, Adena Joseph (Stoughton, Mass.) played a ball from the right side to the top of the box that found Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.). After a move to her right, Salamone tried to go opposite post, but the ball skipped wide of its mark. Four minutes later, Salamone had another chance to give the Pride a 1-0 lead, but her header off a free kick from Shannon Simonelli (Providence, R.I.) missed high and kept the score tied 0-0.
Lyndon State made a late push in the half as Emily Strese (Gilmantown, N.H.) streaked down the left side of the Pride defense on a breakaway. After beating her defender, Strese fired a rocket high on net that Rachel Gagnon (Ashford, Conn.) grabbed out of the air to preserve the tie. With less than a minute to play, Sarah Cornell (Lyndonville, Vt.) received a through ball from Strese and fired a ball from 25 yards out trying to beat Gagnon up top. Gagnon was up to the task however, as she stoned Cornell and the teams entered the half knotted at 0-0.
Just over 11 minutes into the second half, the Pride finally got on the board as a pass from Salamone found the feet of Kristen Abreu and left her one-on-one with Lyndon State's keeper Marley Harmon (Buxton, Maine). Abreu juked to her left and shot towards the right post, beating Harmon and giving the Pride a 1-0 lead. Later in the half, Abreu struck again as she fired a shot on goal that deflected of a Hornets defender and into the back of the net for the two-goal cushion.
After a stoppage of play due to injury, LSC's Emily Strese almost cut the deficit in half with a high-arcing free kick that forced Gagnon to jump high in the air to make the save and keep the score at 2-0. Strese nearly struck again four minutes later on a long blast from outside the 18, but her shot bounced wide of the net. The Hornets finally broke through with just under four minutes to play in the game as Sarah Cornell controlled a clear attempt by the Pride and hit a high-bouncing shot over Gagnon's head that cut the Pride lead in half, 2-1.
Lyndon State's Saiya Sok (Milford, N.H.) nearly tied the game with just over three minutes to play after receiving a through ball and blasting a low shot on Gagnon. Gagnon dove to the ground to preserve the one goal lead and Regis cleared the ball, keeping the Hornets out of the Pride half of the field for the final three minutes and hanging on for the 2-1 win.
Regis outshot the Hornets at a 21-11 clip and took seven corner kicks to none for the visitors. Rachel Gagnon made seven saves for the Pride while earning her second win of the year, while Marley Harmon had eight saves in the setback.
The Pride look to make it three-straight wins to open the season when they host the Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. Lyndon State continues the search for its first win of the year on Sunday when they host Curry College in a non-league game scheduled for 3:30 p.m.