WESTON, Mass. — After three postponements to start the season, Southern Vermont College finally began the first chapter of its women's lacrosse program as the Mountaineers dropped an 18-4 decision at Regis College in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action Saturday afternoon to open up the year.

The Pride grab their first win of the season (1-1, 1-0 NECC) while SVC starts its inaugural campaign 0-1.

SVC sophomore captain Melodie Orrell (Gloucester, Massachusetts) had a solid game, scoring three goals while scooping up a game-best nine ground balls to go with her three draw controls. Classmate and fellow captain Emily Lesure (Cheshire, Massachusetts) added the fourth Mountaineer goal while freshman Taylor Brewer (Bennington, Vermont) notched four ground balls on the day.

Junior midfielder Sam Salamone (Milford, Mass.) had a big game for the Pride, scoring three goals while making two assists and picking up one ground ball. Sophomore attack Danielle Aguinaldo (Malden, Massachusetts) also scored a hat-trick and picked up three ground balls, and freshman midfielder Julia Jones (Revere, Massachusetts) added her first career goal during the victory.

Pride junior keeper Emma Decker (Southborough, Massachusetts) made nine saves in the win (1-1) while Mountaineer freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Carrera (Queensbury, N.Y.) stopped 12 RC shots in her first collegiate appearance (0-1).

Regis owned just a slight 22-19 advantage in ground balls while SVC forced the Pride to commit one more turnover on the day (19-18).

The Pride got on the board first when senior midfielder Teresa Busiek (Arlington, Massachusetts) won the draw and sprinted down the field before ripping a shot that found the back of the net to give the Crimson and Gold the 1-0 advantage. About 40 seconds later, senior attack Grace Politis (Billerica, Massachusetts) found classmate attack Katie Haidemenos (Warwick, Rhode Island) in front of the net. Haidemenos had a one-on-one chance with Carrera and took advantage as her shot ended up in the net and upped the Pride lead to 2-0.

Regis kept up the pressure on offense and was rewarded two minutes later as senior midfielder Sashae Walls (Everett, Massachusetts) received a pass from junior defender Mary Roma (Portland, Maine) and cranked back a shot from seven yards away that was just out of the reach of the keeper. Salamone scored the next two goals for Regis to give the Pride a 5-0 lead with 23:41 left in the first half. A minute after Salamone's tally, freshman attack Nicole Roche (Waltham, Massachusetts) scored her first collegiate goal after a quick pass in front of the net found Roche who shot the ball low and past the goalie, giving the Pride a 6-0 lead.

The Mountaineers would answer four minutes later as Orrell scored the first goal in program history when she took a pass from behind the net from freshman attack Natalie Canterbury (New Hartford, Connecticut), drove through the Pride defense, and ripped a high shot past Decker. The goal cut RC's advantage to 6-1, but Regis would score seven unanswered goals, including Aguinaldo's first of her career, to go into the half leading 13-1.

There was less scoring during the second half of play as there were only eight combined goals. At the 19:30 mark, Lesure scored her first as a Mountaineer on a free position attempt. Orrell added two more goals for SVC, first when she ran through the defense and deposited a shot into the net and then when she came from behind and ripped a shot into the top left corner. Linsay Bumila (Raynham, Massachusetts) scored her first career collegiate goal for the Pride at the 7:13 mark when Decker found Bumila on an outlet pass before the freshman went coast-to-coast for the goal.

The Mountaineers are now off until Tuesday, March 24 when they welcome Daniel Webster College to the SVC campus for a 3:30 p.m. home opener. Regis next squares off with Wellesley College on Wednesday at home, start time slated for 5 p.m.