MILTON, Mass. - First year midfielder Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) tallied six points on four goals and two assists to lead the Simmons College women's lacrosse team in a 15-13 loss to host Curry College this evening at Walter M. Katz Field in Milton, Mass. The Sharks fall to 1-5 on the season, while the Colonels improve to 2-5.
Junior middie Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) cracked the scoring column first for Simmons, scoring on a free position shot just 61 seconds into the match, before Curry ripped off four unanswered goals. Sophomore midfielder Kelly Parker (Branford, Conn.) netted two of the markers on free position tries to contribute to the home team's 4-1 margin with 22:47 to play in the opening half. The Sharks countered with four straight goals in just over four minutes, including a score each from senior attacker Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.), Gilbert, senior midfielder Ali Stonehouse (Dublin, N.H.) and junior attacker Alexa Faria (Cumberland, R.I.) to give the visitors a 5-4 edge with 14:50 showing on the first half clock. Fries assisted on two of the goals. Junior defender Alexis Cran (Branford, Conn.) scored just 12 seconds later to knot the score on a feed from sophomore midfielder Malorie Knowlton (Norfolk, Mass.) to pull the Colonels even.
Fries reclaimed the lead for Simmons with her first marker of the night at 10:39, but Knowlton found the back of the net three times in a span of 3:17 for Curry to close out the half and give the Colonels an 8-6 lead.
Cran increased the Curry cushion to three goals with a score just 14 ticks into the second stanza, but the Sharks closed to within 9-8 following a goal from junior middie Ashley Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) on a pass from Fries and a score from Fries herself with 25:12 remaining in the contest.
Knowlton traded goals with Simmons first year attacker Kiera Kirkaldy (Middlebury, Vt.), who unleashed her first career goal at the 19:21 mark on a helper from Oliveri to make it 10-9 in favor of the home team. The teams continued to trade goals to keep it a one-goal margin as the Colonels received a score each from junior defender Kayli Travassos (Cumberland, R.I.) and sophomore attacker Lauren Carroll (Providence, R.I.), which was matched by a pair of goals from Oliveri to set the score at 12-11 with 8:47 to go in the game.
Curry put together a string of three straight goals in what proved to be the most crucial part of the match, courtesy of Carroll, who scored with the Colonels down a player, and sophomore midfielder Rachael Lawrence (Hanover, Mass.) and Cran to take the largest lead of the evening at 15-11 with 3:38 to play.
The Sharks rallied to score a pair of goals in the closing minutes, despite being down a player, as Fries found the back of the net both times to cut the deficit to 15-13, but it wasn't enough as Curry held on for the victory.
Senior goalie Christina Wallis (Peabody, Mass.) turned away 14 shots to earn the victory for the Colonels, while senior goalie Crystal Derosier (Kingston, Mass.) made 12 saves for Simmons.
Fries added four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers to her night for the Sharks, while Oliveri finished with five points, including three goals to go with a draw control. Gilbert scored a pair of goals in addition to an assist, three ground balls, three draw controls and three caused turnovers and Faria chipped in with two points, four ground balls and two draw controls.
Knowlton led all players with seven points and five goals for Curry and added five ground balls, three draw controls and a ground ball. Parker tallied five points on two goals and three assists to go with four ground balls and a draw control, while Cran and Carroll each netted three goals on the night.
Simmons returns to action on Wednesday, March 25 when it heads to New Haven, Conn. to take on Great Northeast Athletic Conference foe Albertus Magnus College at 4:00 p.m., while the Colonels host Salem State University on the same day at 4:00 p.m.