Simmons Lacrosse was unable to topple undefeated Great Northeast Athletic Conference opponent Saint Joseph's Maine (7-0-1, 4-0 GNAC), falling 18-13 to the Monks on Wednesday afternoon. Senior midfielder Lauren Hagerman paced the Monks with four goals and three assists in the triumph. The Sharks are now 3-4 overall, 1-3 in the GNAC.

It was all St. Joe's in the early going, as the Monks jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first 12 minutes of play. Hagerman scored three times in the first seven minutes and played a hand in seven of her team's first 10 goals, scoring four and assisting on three others. Although the game looked to be one-sided after the first 15 minutes, the feisty Sharks refused to go away easily and utilized scoring bursts near the end of both halves to remain within striking distance.

Leading 9-1 after Lizzie Farley scored back to back markers with 15:25 remaining in the first half, St. Joe's saw it's cushion dwindle to four goals after Simmons scored four unanswered goals in a nine-minute span. Junior Natalie Stever (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) ignited the surge with a pair of goals and freshman Justine Beauchamp (Exeter, N.H.) added a man-up tally during the run.

Vanessa Brooks netted her second goal with 2:08 left in the opening half to break up the Sharks' scoring frenzy, but Simmons freshman Zoie Kaley (Manchester, Maine) and sophomore Meaghan Maurice (Portland, Maine) beat Taylor 40 seconds apart to make it a three-goal game, 10-7. The Monks regained momentum heading into the break, scoring twice in the final 11 seconds off the half, with goals by Amelia Santos and Alyssa Marchant to cap the first half with a 12-7 lead.

Beauchamp scored a free-position goal 3:59 into the second half to cut the Sharks' deficit to 12-8, but Saint Joseph's rattled off five straight, with two from Erika Waterhouse, in the next seven minutes to gain some much-needed breathing room.

Trailing 17-8 with 19:52 left, the Sharks systematically chipped away at the SJC lead and managed to score five straight, with the last marker by Maurice at the 1:52 mark, making it a 17-13 game. The Monks were able to keep the Sharks off the board for the remainder of the game and Marchant scored off a Waterhouse pass with 25 seconds left to make the final score 18-13, Saint Joseph's.

Marchant added four goals, while Megan Cutter and Santos both tallied two goals and two assists for the Monks. Waterhouse, Farley and Brooks all chipped in with two goals apiece and SJC keeper Taylor Allison made 13 saves in goal.

For the Sharks, Maurice, Stever, Mikaela McSherry (Worcester, Mass.) and Beauchamp all scored twice and Lee Sutherland (Tuftonboro, N.H.) chipped in with two assists. Simmons keeper Kelly Last (West Haven, Conn.), who was named GNAC Goalkeeper of the Week on Monday, registered 13 saves in the loss.

St. Joe's held an advantage in shots (37-36), groundballs (33-20) and clears (23-12) while Simmons held an 18-14 edge in draw controls in the conference contest.

Simmons is set to host Emerson on Saturday at 11:00am in a GNAC matchup, while Saint Joseph's will face off against GNAC rival Lasell College in Newton, MA on Friday.