Women’s Soccer Ties Saints, Qualifies for GNAC Tournament

BOSTON – Regis College controlled the action for most of the night, but could not convert on any scoring chances, playing to a scoreless 0-0 tie with Emmanuel College Wednesday night in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's soccer match at Roberto Clemente Field.

The draw sent Regis into a five-way tie for sixth place in the final regular season standings. After the tiebreakers, the Pride ended up as the eighth seed in the GNAC Women's Soccer Tournament. They will travel to Providence, R.I., to face top seed Johnson & Wales in a quarterfinal match Saturday, Nov. 2, starting at 4 p.m.

Emmanuel (9-8-1, 8-3-1 GNAC) created the first scoring chance early in the match, as Natalie Dash sent a shot on net within the first two minutes that was turned away by Regis keeper Ori Attridge (Westwood, Mass.). Attridge was called upon to make another save in the ninth minute as Sydney Allen was able to direct a shot towards the goal.

The Pride took over control of the match midway through the first half, as Kaylee Francis (Millis, Mass.) and Alex Maher (Reading, Mass.) earned scoring opportunities that were stopped by Emmanuel goalie Alyssa Crugnale. The teams exchanged scoring chances in the final minutes of the half, with Francis unable to get her shot past Crugnale before Attridge turned away an attempt by Dash.

Regis seemingly controlled the action in the second half as Emmanuel began to show a more defensive posture. With close to three minutes remaining in regulation, the Pride drew a corner kick, which was sent into the box by Noelle Garcia (Los Angeles, Calif.). However, Francis's shot sailed wide, keeping the match scoreless entering the first overtime period.

Once again, the Pride created the best scoring opportunity in the extra session, drawing another corner kick situation with two minutes left in the first overtime period. Maher's service into the box was met by Alexa Katsoulis (Oxford, Mass.), but her header sailed over the crossbar, and that would be the final shot taken by either team during the night.

The Pride outshot the Saints, 11-3, but only three of Regis' shots were on goal. Both Attridge and Crugnale finished with three saves as each of them were credited with a shutout.

This is the first tie for Regis since Sept. 27, 2017, when the Pride and Saint Joseph's College played to a 1-1 draw in Standish, Maine. Exactly one year before that, on Sept. 27, 2016, Regis and Rhode Island College did not score a goal in their match, the last scoreless tie for the Pride before Wednesday night.

Regis (8-9-1, 5-6-1 GNAC) challenged Johnson & Wales one week ago in Providence, forcing the match into double overtime before the Wildcats prevailed, 2-1.