WESTON, Mass. - The Regis College offensive attack was relentless Tuesday night as the Pride defeated Elms College, 3-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer match at Regis Stadium.
With the victory, Regis moves into a tie for seventh place in the final regular season standings and will be the eighth seed in the upcoming GNAC Women's Soccer Tournament. The Pride will once again face Elms, who ended up as the ninth place team and ninth seed, in the first round Thursday, Oct. 31, starting at 7 p.m. at Regis Stadium.
Regis controlled the possession for the majority of the first half, but the Pride could not get anything past Elms goalie Mackenzie Quick, as she made five saves within the first 18 minutes of action. In addition, a shot by Sienna Santiago (Brewster, N.Y.) in the 20th minute hit off the crossbar.
In the 33rd minute, the Pride finally broke through as Avary Hall (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) picked up her single-season school-record 15th goal of the year. Regis threatened to extend its lead early in the second half, but a shot by Hall sailed just wide and another from Alexis Sherry (Salem, Mass.) was turned away by Quick.
In the 58th minute, Hall drew a foul in the box to create a penalty kick opportunity, but Quick was able to read the shot and catch the ball before it went into the net. However, the Pride's continued pressure paid off in the 74th minute as Sherry sent a long pass to Hall who found the lower left corner of the net for her second tally of the night.
Hall would complete her second hat trick of the season in the 80th minute as she gathered the ball at midfield and went in one-on-one against Quick, eventually sending the ball into the net. Hall finished with 13 total shots, including eight shots on goal, while Santiago collected 11 shots as Regis outshot Elms 33-9.
Cassidy Van Cott (Santa Monica, Calif.) notched her third shutout of the season as she made five saves, including two within the first seven minutes of the match. Quick finished with 14 saves, seven in each half.
Regis improves to 9-7-4 overall and clinches its fourth consecutive winning season, while Elms falls to 8-9-2 overall. The winner of Thursday's match will advance to the quarterfinals of the GNAC Tournament and face top seed Johnson & Wales Saturday, Nov. 2.