WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons College's Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Rookie of the Week for the week of March 23-29, it was announced today by the league.
The rookie was consistently outstanding for the Sharks, netting at least four goals in all three matches for the squad, while finishing the week with 15 points on 12 goals and three assists to go with 10 ground balls (3.33 pg), four caused turnovers and a draw control, while owning an impressive 66.7% (12-18) shot percentage in three games. Fries began the week by racking up a career-high six points on four goals, including two while down a player, and two assists in addition to four ground balls and a personal-best two caused turnovers in a 15-13 loss at Curry College on March 23. The Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School product came back two days later to net four more goals on as many shots and added an assist, three ground balls, a caused turnover and a draw control to help Simmons record a 20-4 victory at GNAC foe Albertus Magnus College. The midfielder capped the week with four markers on five shots at Regis College on March 28 and also came up with three ground balls and caused a turnover in a 16-6 win.
Fries has started all eight contests for the Sharks, while ranking third on the squad with 20 points, 16 goals, four assists and 19 ground balls. She leads Simmons with a .500 shooting percentage and has also added six caused turnovers and six draw controls for the season. Fries places second among GNAC rookies in goals and points, while standing 13th and 17th among all players, respectively. The middie also ranks sixth in the conference in shot percentage for players with 16 or more goals. The first year player has netted at least one goal in six of eight matches this season and has stepped up her effort on the defensive side over the last five outings with six caused turnovers and 15 ground balls.
The Sharks have won two straight matches and are currently 3-5 on the season, including 1-2 in conference play. They return to the turf on Wednesday, April 1 when they head to Nashua, N.H. to take on GNAC foe Rivier University for a 7:00 p.m. start.