NORTHFIELD, Vt.—Sophomore midfielder Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) scored with just over two minutes to play to bring the Sharks to within two but the #3 Norwich University Cadets edged the #6 Sharks 11-9 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Quarterfinal round on Tuesday evening.
Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.) added two goals and two assists, while Ashley Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) totaled two goals and an assist. Ali Stonehouse (Keene, N.H.) and Alexia Malone Oliver (Bristol, R.I.) added single tallies. With the win, the Cadets improve to 8-4 and advance to the GNAC Semifinals on Thursday, while the Sharks conclude the season at 7-7.
Grace Fitzpatrick paced the Norwich offense in the first half. She netted the first goal of the game 2:25 into the half, and after the Sharks took the lead at 3-2 14 minutes later off a goal by Sheehan, Fitzpatrick scored the 3-3 equalizer. With 11:57 left in the first half, Simmons' Stonehouse put the Sharks up 4-3, but Fitzpatrick answered with her third goal 2:06 later. The first half concluded with Simmons' Gilbert and Norwich's Smith trading goals for a deadlocked 5-5 halftime score.
Baylie Lamarre opened the second half with a go-ahead goal at 26:32, and the Cadets would not trail from that there. An Oliveri goal at 25:11 briefly knotted the score again at 6-6, but Fitzpatrick scored twice to bookend Norwich's two-minute long, three-goal run. Larissa Gokey tallied an unassisted tally in the middle.
Simmons answered Norwich's run with back-to-back goals by Sheehan and Oliveri at 15:41 and 12:53 to come within one at 9-8, but Chapel Guarnieri and Lamarre teamed up for their own two-goal stretch at 11:32 and 10:42 to reclaim the three-goal lead.
The Norwich defense held the Sharks scoreless for over eight minutes, but Gilbert netted a final tally with 2:14 to play. The Cadets won the final draw control and maintained possession for nearly a minute, but a turnover gave the Sharks possession with 1:19 to play. The Sharks carried the ball to the offensive zone, but a turnover with1:02 to play sealed the win for Norwich.
Simmons goaltender Crystal Derosier (Kingston, Mass.) had an impressive day in net, as she totaled 18 saves. Norwich netminder Irene Okubo registered two saves in the win.
Fitzpatrick also had team-highs in ground balls with eight and caused turnovers with five, while Gilbert paced the Sharks with six ground balls.