WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College women's soccer team heads into the 2019 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament with renewed focus after fighting to earn a spot in the postseason during the final stretch of the regular season.
Regis is the eighth seed in this year's tournament, heading to Providence, R.I., to face top seed Johnson & Wales in a quarterfinal match Saturday, Nov. 2, starting at 4 p.m. The semifinals are scheduled to take place Tuesday, Nov. 5, with the championship contest at the highest remaining seed set for Saturday, Nov. 9.
Regis completed the regular season at 8-9-1 after playing Emmanuel to a scoreless draw Wednesday evening. The Pride ended up in a five-way tie for sixth place in the GNAC standings with a 5-6-1 league mark and prevailed in the tiebreakers to receive the final spot in the postseason tournament.
Kaylee Francis (Millis, Mass.) did not experience a sophomore slump, coming close to Regis single season records for the second straight year with eight goals and nine assists for 25 total points. Emily Lange (Ashland, Mass.) and Emma Mendes (Pawtucket, R.I.) scored five goals apiece, while Valerie Gordon (Hudson, N.H.), Rachel Kelly (Whitman, Mass.), and Alex Maher (Reading, Mass.) earned four goals each for the Pride.
In total, 19 different players either scored a goal or earned an assist for Regis during the 2019 season. The Pride participated in 10 matches decided by one goal as well as the tie, including four overtime contests where Regis went 2-1-1.
Johnson & Wales finished the regular season atop the GNAC standings with an 11-1 league mark as part of a 13-6 overall record. After losing their first five matches, the Wildcats won 13 of 14 contests, capped by a 10-1 victory over Anna Maria Wednesday.
Junior Olivia Cairrao leads the Wildcats and the GNAC with 18 goals and 43 total points, while Jordan Restivo has earned 11 goals and a team-high eight assists. Other offensive players to watch include Cat Nolan with six goals and six assists, Alexis Vieira with six goals and five assists, and Victoria Patriarca with five goals.
Between the pipes, Colleen Lynch has started 15 matches for Johnson & Wales, posting a 12-3 record with a 1.01 goals against average and an .813 save percentage with 61 saves.
This will be the fourth meeting over the past three years between Regis and Johnson & Wales, with the Wildcats winning all three previous matches.
The most recent meeting came on Oct. 23, with Johnson & Wales grabbing the lead in the 31st minute on a goal by Restivo off an assist from Cairrao. With just under 30 minutes left in regulation, Francis scored to tie the match at 1-1. The contest headed into overtime, with Cairrao scoring 3:13 into the second overtime period to give the Wildcats the victory. Lynch finished with six saves while Regis goalie Ori Attridge (Westwood, Mass.) ended up with a career-high 17 saves.
Regis is playing in the GNAC Tournament for the second consecutive year, as the Pride lost to Emmanuel in the quarterfinals of the 2018 tournament, 1-0.