NEWTON, Mass. - Junior midfielder Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) scored a pair of goals to become the third player in school history to net 100 career goals this afternoon for the Simmons College women's lacrosse team in a 14-4 loss to visiting Lasell College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest. The match was played in Newton, Mass. on the Lasell campus, but was considered a home contest for the Simmons. The Sharks fall to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in league play, while the Lasers improve to 3-2 and 2-0.
Lasell owned a 35-22 shot advantage and forced 28 turnovers, while holding Simmons to a 10-20 conversion rate on clears.
Senior attacker Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.) notched her ninth goal of the season on an assist from first year midfielder Kiera Kirkaldy (Middlebury, Vt.) with 11:34 to play in the opening half to pull the Sharks to within 4-3. The Lasers netted the final four goals of the half, including a pair of markers from junior attacker Bridget Doherty (Franklin, Mass.), to take an 8-3 advantage at the intermission.
Lasell continued its offensive momentum into the second stanza, scoring the first four goals of the period, while holding Simmons without a goal for the first 17:45 of the half. The Lasers held a 12-3 cushion following junior midfielder Ashley Gleason's (Suffield, Conn.) fifth goal of the year at the 13:34 mark of the second half. Senior midfielder Ali Stonehouse (Dublin, N.H.) scored the Sharks' only goal of the period at 12:15 to cut the deficit to 12-4. Doherty and senior middie Toni Minelli (Newington, Conn.) tallied the final two scores of the afternoon for Lasell to close out the contest at 14-4.
Simmons struck first when junior midfielder Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) scored just 77 seconds into the game for a 1-0 edge. The Lasers countered with three unanswered goals, including a pair from Gleason. Gilbert scored again for the Sharks at 12:29 with her team-high 16th of the season to become just the third player in school history to reach 100 for her career. Senior attacker Caitlyn Brecher (Cheshire, Conn.) answered just 26 seconds later for Lasell to increase its lead to 4-2, before Oliveri scored for Simmons.
Gilbert ended with three points, including two goals to lead Simmons and also added five ground balls and five draw controls. Oliveri added three ground balls, a draw control and a caused turnover to her goal, while junior middie Ashley Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) won five draw controls, caused a pair of turnovers and came up with two ground balls. Senior defender Symonne Fontenot (Portsmouth, N.H.) picked up three ground balls and caused two turnovers.
Gleason led the Lasers with a career-high seven points on three goals and four assists and added four ground balls, three caused turnovers and a draw control to her afternoon for the Lasers, while Doherty finished with five points, including four goals to go with four ground balls. Minelli racked up four points on three goals and an assist in addition to a pair of ground balls and a caused turnover, while Brecher assisted on two scores and picked up three ground balls. Junior midfielder Bridget Munnelly (Bellingham, Mass.) was disruptive in the midfield all afternoon, causing a game-high six turnovers and getting credit for five ground balls and four draw controls.
Senior goalie Alexa Katsigianis (Amherst, N.H.) was outstanding in net for Lasell, stopping 12 shots to earn the victory, while senior netminder Crystal Derosier (Kingston, Mass.) made a season-high 14 saves for the Sharks.
Simmons returns to action when it heads to Buzzards Bay, Mass. to take on Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Saturday, March 21 at 1:00 p.m., while the Lasers host Johnson & Wales University on the same day at 12:00 p.m.