STANDISH, Maine - The third-seeded Simmons College field hockey team was defeated by host number two seed Saint Joseph's College (Maine), 5-0, this afternoon in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament Semifinals at the SJC Athletics Complex in Standish, Maine. The Sharks conclude their season with a 12-7 record, while the Monks advance to the GNAC Championship with a mark of 14-5 and will take on the winner of top-seed Lasell College and number four seed Mount Ida College.
Saint Joseph's allowed just two shots in each period of play, while owning a 25-4 shot advantage. The Monks put Simmons on the defensive for most of the day with 17 penalty corner opportunities to a total of five for the Sharks.
Sophomore forward Libby Pomerleau (Limerick, Maine) led Saint Joseph's with a five-point effort on two goals and an assist. She tallied the first two goals of the contest within 90 seconds of each other. Sophomore midfielder Maddy Beaulieu (West Gardiner, Maine) and junior back Arianna Kahler (Lisbon Falls, Maine) combined to set up Pomerleau for a goal with 30:37 left in the opening half on a penalty corner. The Monks took advantage of another penalty corner situation, just 89 seconds later, when Kahler fed Pomerleau again for her second goal and 19th of the season.
Saint Joseph's snuck another goal in before the end of the half with just 1:42 remaining in the period. Junior midfielder Kara Kelly (York, Maine) converted a cross from her twin sister Kayla Kelly (York, Maine) to give the Monks a 3-0 lead with her third goal, before heading to the break. The three-goal output came during a half that saw the host team put offensive pressure on Simmons with a 16-2 shot advantage and a 10-3 cushion on penalty corners.
The Sharks defense held Saint Joseph's without a score for the first 24 minutes of the second half, but the Monks put two more scores on the board in a span of just over three minutes to take a commanding 5-0 lead with 7:47 left in the match. Saint Joseph's scored both of their goals off penalty corner chances. Pomerleau sent a cross to senior defender Hayley Winslow (Falmouth, Mass.), who buried a shot into the back of the cage for her sixth marker of the year and a 4-0 lead with 10:55 remaining in the contest. Kayla Kelly capped the scoring for the Monks when she collected a rebound off a Pomerleau shot and snapped a shot past the Simmons keeper and backs for her 10th goal of the year to make it 5-0.
Junior defensive midfielder Meghan Fontaine (Westminster, Mass.) paced the Sharks' offense with a pair of shots.
First year goalie Lucy McNamara (Brewster, Mass.) registered a career-high 16 saves for Simmons and first year back Abigail Anderson (South Yarmouth, Mass.) posted her 11th defensive save of the year for the Sharks. Junior goalie Megan Baker (Gorham, Maine) stopped the only shot she faced on frame to post her seventh shutout of the year and 20th of her career and earn the victory for Saint Joseph's.