BOSTON, Mass. – Four different players scored for the Simmons College field hockey team, led by junior forward Julie Saltamartini (East Hampstead, N.H.) as it cruised past visiting Rivier University on Saturday afternoon at Daly Field in Brighton, Mass. in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action. The Sharks improve to 8-6 overall and 4-1 in GNAC play, while the Raiders fall to 4-10 and 1-4 respectively.
Simmons outshot its opponents, 29-4, on the day, while maintaining a 13-2 margin on corners. Saltamartini led the Shark attack as she netted a pair of goals, while senior forward Jenna Gagnon (Waterville, Maine)recorded a multi-point game, notching a goal and an assist. Sophomore midfielder Ana Giarrusso (Hingham, Mass.) and senior forward Mary Neidhardt (Middlefield, Conn.) rounded out the scoring for Simmons, tallying a goal apiece.
Saltamartini broke open the scoring, 6:06 into the match, when she collected the ball in the circle and rocketed a shot past the Rivier keeper for a 1-0 edge.
The score would remain the same into the second half, until Giarrusso increased the lead for the Sharks combining with junior midfielder Hailey Bruno-Moulton (South Berwick, Maine) off of a corner for her second marker of the season with 16:42 left to spark a run of four scores in a span of just under 15 minutes.
Saltamartini tallied her second goal of the game to give her a team-high 13 on the year, 2:27 after Giarrusso's tally, as she finessed her way past the last defender and fired a shot by the keeper, increasing the Simmons lead to 3-0.
With the Sharks keeping the pressure on the visitors' defense throughout the game, Neidhardt got on the board off a set piece with her third goal of the season, when she deflected Gagnon's shot just under the cross bar of the cage. Just over a minute later, Gagnon dribbled through the defense and made a move on the goalie to tally her own goal of the game and make the score 5-0 with 1:45 remaining in the match.
Simmons senior goalkeepers Brianna Rastello (Salem, N.H.) and Hope McDonald (Hingham, Mass.) combined for the shutout. Rastello earned the win and denied the only shot she faced in the opening 55:45 of action, before giving way to McDonald who played the remaining 14:15, stopping two shots of her own and extending her career scoreless streak to 330:24.
Raiders' first year goalie, Katherine Papele (Swampscott, Mass.) recorded 18 saves on the afternoon, while teammates MaryKate Sweeney (Chicopee, Mass.) and Emily Knoops (Tewksbury, Mass.) each logged a defensive save.
The Sharks are back in action on Wednesday, October 19 when they travel to Henniker, N.H. to take on New England College at 7:00 p.m, while Rivier hosts Saint Joseph's College of Maine in their season finale at 1:00 p.m.
