NEWTON, Mass. – Despite a combined seven goals from junior midfielder Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) and senior attacker Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.) the Simmons College women's lacrosse team was edged by Mount Ida College this morning in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match at Alumni Field on the campus of Mount Ida in Newton, Mass. Oliveri also became just the second player in school history to notch her 100th career goal.
The match was considered a home match for the Sharks, but was moved to Newton, due to unplayable field conditions in Boston. The contest was also the first conference tilt for both teams. Simmons falls to 1-3 on the season, including 0-1 in GNAC play, while the Mustangs improve to 1-1 and 1-0.
The Sharks faced an 8-6 deficit with 24:20 to play in the match, before scoring three unanswered goals to take a 9-8 lead at the 19:59 mark of the half. Senior attacker Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.) scored at 22:24 and later found junior midfielder Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) for the equalizer at 20:04 to knot the contest at 8-8. Junior middie Ashley Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) gave Simmons a 9-8 edge just five seconds later.
Senior attacker Amanda Bowen (Randolph, Vt.) tied the score at 9-9 when she found the back of the net with 14:51 remaining in the game for Mount Ida, before sophomore attacker Nicole Pavao (Peabody, Mass.) scored 61 seconds later to give the Mustangs the lead for good.
Neither team was able to score for the final 13 minutes of play, despite Gilbert hitting the post twice in the final minutes of play for the Sharks.
Gilbert opened the game's scoring when she put Simmons on the board just 2:42 into the match. Bowen and junior midfielder Briana Barker (Westerly, R.I.) answered for Mount Ida to give it a 2-1 margin, but sophomore midfielder Sara Rademacher (North Haven, Conn.) netted her first goal of the season for the Sharks and Gilbert followed with a goal of her own to reclaim the lead at 3-2 for Simmons with 19:25 showing on the first half clock. Bowen and Oliveri traded goals before Bowen scored again, followed by a pair of scores from sophomore middie Rebecca Beaulieu (Weare, N.H.) to give the Mustangs a 6-4 advantage with 6:20 left in the first period. Oliveri got a goal back for Simmons with the 100th goal of her career at the 5:13 mark of the period, but first year defender Shaylene Hegarty (Townsend, Mass.) restored the two-goal lead for Mount Ida for a 7-5 lead, which held until the intermission.
Gilbert scored just 57 seconds into the second stanza for the Sharks, before Bowen answered at 24:20 to give the Mustangs an 8-6 cushion.
First year goalie Sydney Fredette (Hudson, Mass.) made six saves to earn her first collegiate victory for Mount Ida, while senior Crystal Derosier (Kingston, Mass.) stopped 10 shots for Simmons.
Bowen added an assist, eight draw controls and a ground ball to her afternoon for the Mustangs, while Beaulieu finished with a pair of goals, two ground balls and a caused turnover. Hegarty and Barker each finished with two points, including a goal apiece. Hegarty also picked up five ground balls, caused five turnovers and came up with a draw control.
Gilbert tallied four goals in addition to recording a game-high six ground balls to go with four draw controls and a caused turnover for the Sharks, while Oliveri tallied five points on three goals and a pair of assists and added a ground ball, a draw control and a caused turnover. She now has 165 career points with 101 goals and 64 assists. Sheehan ended the game with a goal, an assist, four caused turnovers, four ground balls and three draw controls.
Simmons returns to action on Wednesday, March 18 when it returns to Newton, Mass. to take on GNAC foe Lasell College at 4:00 p.m., while Mount Ida hosts Massachusetts Institute of Technology on March 16 at 5:00 p.m.
