NEWTON, Mass. -- The Mount Ida College women's soccer team took a tough 3-2 loss against the Pride of Regis College on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field. Mustang freshman striker Alee Bonola (Windsor, Conn.) tallied her first two collegiate goals in the 81st and 89th minute of the contest bringing the Mustangs back from a 3-0 deficit. The Pride held on late in the game for the non-conference victory.
Throughout the first half of action between the Mustangs and Pride, both teams saw scoring opportunities squandered as they battled back and forth in the opening stanza. The best scoring opportunity came with around four minutes remaining in the half when junior Isabelle Moody (Naugatuck, Conn.) got free in the box just outside the penalty. Moody was able to get the shot off just as a defender got to the ball but the ball went wide.
Heading into the break at the half, with both teams clearly fatigued by the weather, the Mustangs and Pride remained knotted at zero.
Regis' Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.) opened the scoring in the 65th minute when she put home a header by Mustang keeper Rebecca Beaulieu (Weare, N.H.) to give the Pride the late 1-0 advantage. Just over a minute later, off a misplaced clearance by the Mustangs, Kristen Abreu (Woburn, Mass.) coralled the ball just outside the top of the box and sailed a shot over Beaulieu to give Regis a comfortable 2-0 lead late in the game. Joana Rosa (Roxbury, Mass.) gave the Pride a commanding 3-0 cushion in the 74th minute after beating a Mount Ida defender to the ball and sneaking a shot into the back of the net, near post.
With Regis leading 3-0, Mount Ida had other plans as Bonola would tally the first goal of her career when she beat a Regis defender at the top of the box and beat Regis keeper Rachel Gagnon (Ashford, Conn.) near post. With Mount Ida still fighting, Bonola once again out muscled a Regis back while slipping the ball past Gagnon again for her second goal in just eight minutes.
Mount Ida continued to pressure Regis with forty-five seconds remaining in the game before the Pride were able to get a long ball well placed into the corner of the field while time ran out for the Mustangs.
Regis outshot Mount Ida 13 to 9 on the afternoon while also having the edge in corners, 6-3. Beaulieu took the loss making four saves, with Gagnon earning the win making three saves.
Mount Ida will return to the confines of Alumni Field on Tuesday, September 9th, when they take on Emerson Lions at 3:30 p.m. Regis will take the next several days to prepapre for Wellesley College on Saturday, September 13th a5 1:00 p.m.