NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - First year midfielder Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal with 2:04 left to play to give the Simmons College women's lacrosse team a 15-14 victory over host Smith College this evening at Smith Turf Field in Northampton, Mass. The Sharks improve to 1-2 on the season, while the Pioneers fall to 2-3.
The win marks the first of Simmons Head Coach Cassandra Haase's career as a head coach.
Junior midfielder Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) scored on a feed from senior attacker Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.) at the 6:08 mark of the second half to knot the score at 14-14 with her game-high eighth goal of the night for Simmons. Fries put the Sharks on top for good with her second tally of the night coming on a free position shot with just over two minutes to go.
Smith scored the first four goals of the night, including two from first year attacker Julia Hamilton (Williamstown, Mass.) to take a 4-0 margin with 22:53 left in the opening period. Gilbert snapped the Pioneers' string of goals with her first of the night at 22:18 as the teams traded four goals each over the next 14 minutes with senior middie Jenny Estes (Falmouth, Mass.) scoring at the 8:43 mark to give the home team an 8-4 lead.
Simmons closed out the half by scoring three of the half's last four goals, including a pair within 19 seconds of each other, thanks to Oliveri and Gilbert, to cut the deficit to 9-7 with 2:26 remaining in the half.
Gilbert went on a scoring spree to begin the second stanza, scoring three of the period's first five goals in the first 10 minutes in addition to an Oliveri score that opened the half for the Sharks. Gilbert's goal at 20:23 came on a free position opportunity and gave Simmons its first lead of the match at 11-10.
The Sharks retained a one-goal edge, despite the team's trading the next four goals, capped by a marker from junior attacker Alexa Faria (Cumberland, R.I.) to give them a 13-12 edge with 16:34 showing on the second half clock. Junior middie Rachel Silveria (Dunstable, Mass.) tied the match at 13-13 just 23 seconds later and tallied the go-ahead goal on a feed from Estes to give Smith a 14-13 edge before Gilbert and Fries rallied to give Simmons the victory.
Senior Crystal Derosier (Kingston, Mass.) stopped six shots to earn the victory for Simmons, while first year goalie Sarah Price (Hudson, Ohio) turned away 15 shots for the Pioneers.
The Sharks owned a 38-25 shot advantage for the match.
Gilbert added five draw controls, three ground balls and a caused turnover to her goal total for Simmons, while Fries dished out an assist, scooped up four ground balls and came up with one draw control. Oliveri tallied five points, including three goals in addition to a draw control and senior defender Symonne Fontenot (Portsmouth, N.H.) picked up a game-high five ground balls to go with a pair of caused turnovers and a draw control.
Estes led Smith with eight points on four goals and four assists and also picked up three draw controls, caused a pair of turnovers and came up with a ground ball, while Silveria added an assist to her four goals and also recorded seven draw controls, one caused turnover and a ground ball. Hamilton finished with five markers, a ground ball and a caused turnover.
The Sharks will be in action again on Saturday, March 14 when they travel to Newton, Mass. to take on conference foe Mount Ida College at 11:00 a.m., while the Pioneers travel to Newport, R.I. on March 15 to take on Salve Regina University at 1:00 p.m.