BOSTON, Mass. – Junior midfielder Amy Cronin (Georgetown, Mass.) and senior forward Kelly Williamson (Natick, Mass.) each tallied a pair of goals and combined to assist on three others to lead the Simmons College field hockey team to an 8-0 rout over visiting Mount Ida College this afternoon in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference opener on Winsor Field in Boston, Mass. The Sharks record their second straight shutout to improve to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in league play, while the Mustangs fall to 1-3 and 0-1. 

Simmons owned a 23-3 shot advantage and dominated the corners by a count of 18-3. The eight goals were the most scored by the sharks since October 4, 2011 when they defeated Rivier University, 9-4, in Nashua, N.H. 

Cronin found Williamson with the game's first score at 9:42 of the first half when she sent a cross in front of the cage for a Williamson shot that found the right corner of the cage for a 1-0 Simmons' edge. Williamson's second tally of the day and fourth of the season came at the 26:49 mark on a feed from sophomore forward Jillian Mercer (Dartmouth, Mass.) to increase the Sharks' lead to 4-0. Cronin assisted on the last goal of the first half when she crossed to sophomore Mary Neidhardt (Middlefield, Conn.) for the forward's first goal of the season with just 3:16 left in the period. Both of Cronin's markers came in the second half. She registered her first goal of the year on a penalty stroke at 61:02 and found the back of the cage again just 4:37 later.  Sophomore forward Madeline Koufos (Needham, Mass.) sent the entry pass to Cronin on a penalty corner for a blast from the top of the circle that beat the Mount Ida keeper at 65:39 for a 7-0 advantage. Williamson set up first year Julie Saltamartini (East Hampstead, N.H.) for a hard shot in front of the cage that resulted in the forward's fourth goal of the year with just 70 seconds to go in the contest. 

Saltamartini scored earlier in the match to give the home team a 2-0 lead when sophomore midfielder Robin Powell (Richmond, Vt.) sent a cross to the right slot, where Saltamartini flicked a quick shot into the back of the cage at 11:35. First year forward Samantha Rondeau (Franklin, Mass.) added to the Sharks' count when she scored from the right slot as well on a feed from Mercer at the 23:37 mark of the opening stanza to make it 3-0.   

Sophomore keeper Brianna Rastello (Salem, N.H.) turned away three shots in the first 54:58 of action, before classmate Hope McDonald (Hingham, Mass.) went untested in the final 15:02 to combine for the Simmons shutout. Senior goalie Brenna Santos (East Falmouth, Mass.) made nine saves for the Mustangs. 

The Sharks will be in action again on Saturday, September 20 when they travel to Paxton, Mass. to take on Anna Maria College in GNAC action at 12:00 p.m., while Mount Ida hosts Wheelock College on September 17 at 7:00 p.m.