WESTON, Mass. – Integrating a significant number of new players into a solid group of veterans, the Regis College women's soccer team is primed to make an impact on the pitch as the 2021 competition season approaches.

The Pride are scheduled to open the season with three matches in five days, hosting Emerson (Sept. 1) and Fitchburg State (Sept. 4) before traveling to Curry (Sept. 5). Outside of a non-conference road contest at Rhode Island College Sept. 15, the remainder of the regular season features 13 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opponents as Regis aims for a berth in the GNAC Tournament.

"Our goal for this season is to do better than we have in the past and make it further through the tournament," senior midfielder Alex Maher (Reading, Mass.) said. "I think we have a strong team, and I believe we will do great things this year."

Maher, among the 12 players on the current roster who saw action in 2019, is one of the squad's leading returning scorers, as she and Valerie Gordon (Hudson, N.H.) each notched four goals that season.

Regis will once again depend on its defense, led by several returning defenders including Katharine Ives (Arlington, Mass.), Alexa Katsoulis (Oxford, Mass.), Miya Nishibun (Honolulu, Hawaii), Kerri Urquhart (Burlington, Mass.), and Tia Zanardi (Haverhill, Mass.). The returners are aware of the immediate contribution they will need from the newcomers.

"It's nice that we basically have two classes of newcomers that the rest of the conference hasn't seen yet," Nishibun said. "So we are going to come out strong and ready to compete." 

The anchors of the Pride defense are senior goalkeepers Ori Attridge (Westwood, Mass.) and Angie Caldwell (Goffstown, N.H.), both of whom bring significant experience between the pipes. Attridge has made 154 career saves with a .798 save percentage, while Caldwell has also played over 1,000 minutes in net for Regis with seven career victories.

The GNAC coaches believe Regis will contend within the league this season, as the Pride finished fifth in the GNAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll with 124 points. Johnson & Wales enters the year as the preseason favorite, picking up 12 first place votes and 193 overall points, with Saint Joseph's College (177 points) and Lasell (167 points) collecting one first place vote apiece.

After hosting Saint Joseph's College Wednesday, Oct. 6, the Pride travel to face Johnson & Wales Saturday, Oct. 9, and later conclude the regular season at Lasell Wednesday, Oct. 27. The top eight teams in the final regular season standings qualify for the GNAC Tournament, with the winner of the championship match Saturday, Nov. 6, earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

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