PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Senior forward Kelly Williamson (Natick, Mass.) scored in overtime to give the Simmons College field hockey team a 2-1 victory over host Johnson & Wales University this afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match in Providence, R.I. The Sharks have won three straight matches and are now 7-4 on the season, including a perfect 3-0 in league play, while the Wildcats fall to 6-5 and 3-1.
Simmons owned a 17-7 shot advantage, including 11-3 in the second half and overtime periods combined.
Williamson corralled a Sharks' pass that bounced off the Johnson & Wales keeper and took a shot that found the lower corner for her fifth goal of the season to secure the 2-1 win with 3:40 left in the extra period.
The Wildcats struck first, just under 11 minutes into the match, when freshman Shaina Thompson (Delmar, Del.) converted a penalty stroke, placing her shot to the left of the goalie and into the back of the cage to give JWU the 1-0 lead at 10:45. Simmons evened the match just over 10 minutes later when first year forward Julie Saltamartini (East Hampstead, N.H.) sent a short cross to classmate Samantha Rondeau (Franklin, Mass.), who pushed a shot past the Johnson & Wales goalie for her fourth marker of the year at 20:47 for a 1-1 tie. The teams went into halftime tied, 1-1.
Neither team was able to score in the second half, despite an 8-2 shot margin in the Sharks' favor.
Sophomore keeper Brianna Rastello (Salem, N.H.) turned away three shots, including one in the overtime period, to earn the victory for Simmons, while first year goalie Shannon Yoder (Boyertown, Pa.) made five saves for the Wildcats.
The Sharks will be in action again when they host Wheelock College on Tuesday, October 7 on Winsor Field at 7:00 p.m., while Johnson & Wales hosts Bay Path College on the same day at 4:00 p.m.