Simmons Lacrosse fought a close battle from the first draw to the final minute to come up with the 9-8 win over conference opponent Mount Ida on Wednesday night. With the victory, the Sharks improve to 6-2 overall (4-1 GNAC). The Mustangs are now 6-7 overall (2-3 GNAC) with the loss.

Mount Ida scored first on a shot from junior Jen Thompson just over a minute into the game. The Sharks would respond with five unanswered goals before freshman Molly Sheppard would score again for the Mustangs with four seconds left in the first half.
 
In the second half, Mount Ida came out strong, scoring three fast goals to tie the game at 5-5 with 28 minutes to play. The scoring alternated for the rest of the game, switching leads twice until junior Meaghan Maurice (Portland, Maine) would make the game winning goal off a free position shot with 31 seconds left. Following that shot, the Sharks would gain control off the final draw and hold on for the win.

Head coach Amanda Maxwell was very proud of the win. "The girls played with determination and drive for the whole 60 minutes. They were fired up to win, and stayed poised and composed."

Sophomore Emily Kaley (Manchester, Maine) led the Sharks with three goals. Maurice and freshman Taylor Nisbet (Dartmouth, Mass.) had two goals apiece and sophomores Meg Coffey (Wilmot, N.H.) and Rachel Wallace (Braintree, Mass.) each had one to round out the scoring for Simmons. Mount Ida was led by Jen Thompson, who had four goals on the night.

Sophomore keeper Kelly Last (West Haven, Conn.) picked up the win for the Sharks with 12 saves, Katherine Chousa made the start in goal for the Mustangs, making seven stops and picking up the loss for Mount Ida.

The Sharks will travel to Norwich on Saturday, April 16 for a 1:00pm GNAC contest. Mount Ida will return home to host St. Joseph's (Conn.) on Saturday at 4:00pm.