BOSTON, Mass. – Junior forward Julie Saltamartini (East Hampstead, N.H.) tallied a school-record tying four goals to lead the Simmons College field hockey team to a 7-3 victory over visiting Nichols College this evening at Daly Field in Brighton, Mass. The Sharks improve to 1-2 on the season, while the Bison fall to 1-3. The win marks the first victory for any Simmons team at the new Daly Athletics Complex. 

The Sharks owned a 27-10 shot advantage and a 12-6 margin on penalty corners for the match. 

Saltamartini's four goals were the first markers of the season for her, while classmate Sammy Rondeau (Franklin, Mass.) scored a pair of goals and assisted on two others. Sophomore midfielder Ana Giarusso (Hingham, Mass.) found the back of the cage for the home team's other score. First year goalie Audrey Simmons (Fairhaven, Mass.) earned her first collegiate victory with a pair of saves in her first career start between the pipes at the college level. Junior backs Kiera Kirkaldy (Middlebury, Vt.) and Eryn Melanson (Townsend, Mass.) each registered a defensive save for the Sharks. 

First year forward Erin Kelley (Dighton, Mass.) led Nichols with a goal and an assist, while classmate Taylor Ward (Tewksbury, Mass.) and junior forward Amy McDonnell (Newbury, Mass.) also scored for the Bison. First year keeper Brooke Misbach (Guilford, Conn.) stopped a career-high 15 shots in goal for the visitors. Senior back Brooke Marion (South Hadley, Mass.) notched a defensive save as well. 

Simmons faced a 2-1 deficit just 4:06 into the second half, following Ward's first collegiate goal for Nichols on an assist from Kelley. The Sharks rallied for four unanswered goals, including a pair from Rondeau and a score from Giarrusso. Rondeau also assisted on Saltamartini's second marker of the night. Rondeau's second tally gave Simmons a 5-2 lead with less than 20 minutes to play in the contest. 

Kelley scored her third goal of the year with 15:32 left in the contest to pull the Bison to within 5-3, but the Saltamartini put the game out of reach with her final two goals of the evening for the Sharks. Her fourth score came with 5:51 left in the match to tie the school standard held by Dawn McKinley (10/17/96), Monica Doucette (10/4/11) and Lee Sutherland (10/15/11). 

Saltamartini put Simmons on the board with first tally of the contest coming on a cross in front of the cage from first year midfielder Hannah Scott (Claremont, N.H.) with 13:07 left in the opening stanza. The helper was the first collegiate point for Scott, who was also making her first collegiate start. 

McDonnell evened the score at 1-1 less than six minutes later for Nichols. Sophomore forward Courteney White (Orange, Mass.) found McDonnell in the right post with a cross from the top of the circle. 

The Sharks return to action on Saturday, September 10 when they host Thomas College (Maine) at 12:00 p.m. as part of the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to officially open Daly Field. The Bison will play again on September 13 when they head to Newton, Mass. to take on Lasell College at 4:00 p.m.