NORTHFIELD, Vt. - Senior goalie Crystal Derosier (Kingston, Mass.) stopped 15 shots and classmate Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.) scored four goals to lead the Simmons College women's lacrosse team to a 10-8 victory over host Norwich University in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match this afternoon at Sabine Field in Northfield, Vt. The Sharks improve to 6-7 on the season, including 4-4 in league play, while the Cadets fall to 5-6 and 3-5.
Derosier was the difference for Simmons as Norwich owned a 32-21 shot advantage for the match.
The Cadets cracked the scoring column first when senior attacker Gina Conroy (Amherst, N.H.) found the back of the net at 26:09 of the opening period. The Sharks answered with a pair of goals coming from junior midfielder Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) and Oliveri with junior middie Ashley Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) assisting on both scores to give her a career-high of seven for the year. Norwich senior midfielder Hope Royce (Washington, Vt.) knotted the game at 2-2 with 13:42 left in the half, before Simmons closed out the low-scoring period with two goals to take a 4-2 margin. Oliveri converted a goal on a feed from first year midfielder Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) at the 10:05 mark, before Gilbert found junior attacker Alexa Faria (Cumberland, R.I.) for the final marker of the half with just 15 ticks to go.
The Cadets pulled to within 4-3 when sophomore midfielder Chapel Guarnieri (Pepperell, Mass.) connected with first year middie Teresa Segreti (Salisbury Mills, N.Y.) for a goal coming with 22:59 showing on the second half clock. The Sharks looked to take control of the contest with four unanswered goals in less than two minutes to take an 8-3 advantage with 17:11 remaining in the match. Faria scored on a free position shot, while Gilbert scored just 11 seconds later. Oliveri netted two goals of her own in an 18-second span to give Simmons a five-goal lead.
The teams traded a pair of goals each to keep it a five-goal margin at 10-5 with 5:31 left in the game. Conroy and junior attacker Larissa Gokey (Saint Johnsbury, Vt.) each scored for the home team, while Gilbert netted her team-leading 46th goal of the year and Faria struck for her 12th tally of the season for the Sharks. Norwich rallied for three goals in 51 seconds to cut the deficit to 10-8, courtesy of Royce, Segreti and Guarnieri, but it was the final offensive production for the afternoon for either team as Simmons came away with the win.
Derosier was outstanding in net, turning away 15 of 25 shots she faced for a 60% save mark to earn the victory for the Sharks, while junior goalie Courtney Hudson (Burke, Va.) made seven saves for the Cadets.
Oliveri added a ground ball to her day for Simmons, while Gilbert finished with a game-high six points on three goals and three assists to go with four draw controls, three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Faria also ended the afternoon with three scores and Sheehan caused a trio of turnovers in addition to three draw controls. Senior defender Symonne Fontenot (Portsmouth, N.H.) chipped in with four ground ball and caused a pair of turnovers.
Royce, Segreti and Conroy each netted a pair of goals to lead Norwich. Segreti also added a game-high six ground balls to go with a draw control and a caused turnover, while senior midfielder Emma Smith (Patterson, N.Y.) came up with six ground balls and caused two turnovers. Guarnieri finished with three points, including two assists and added four ground balls, a draw control and a match-best four caused turnovers.
Simmons returns to action on Saturday, April 18 when it hosts GNAC rival Saint Joseph's College (Maine) at 12:00 p.m. on Senior Day in the last regular-season match of the season, while Norwich hosts Johnson & Wales University on the same day at 1:00 p.m.