NEWTON, Mass. - Sophomore midfielder Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) tallied a school-record matching nine points, including eight goals to lead the Simmons College women's lacrosse team over host Mount Ida College, 20-8, this evening in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at Alumni Field in Newton, Mass. The Sharks improve to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in league play, while the Mustangs fall to 2-8 and 1-2.
Simmons scored 10 goals in each half and outscored Mount Ida, 10-3 in the second half.
Fries netted eight goals and added an assist, while coming up with four ground balls and causing a pair of turnovers, while first year attacker Missie Maiewski (Northampton, Mass.) scored a career-high four goals to go with a ground ball. Senior midfielder Alexia Malone Oliver (Bristol, R.I.) registered four points on three goals and an assist and added two ground balls, a draw control and a caused turnover. Sophomore attacker Kiera Kirkaldy (Middlebury, Vt.) also chipped in with a goal, two assists and a ground ball.
First year goalie Kenzie Rogers (Bourne, Mass.) was outstanding stopping 13 shots to earn the victory for the visitors.
Junior midfielder Nicole Pavao (Peabody, Mass.) led the Mustangs with five goals in addition to two ground balls, a pair of draw controls and two caused turnovers. First year midfielder Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) contributed with a goal and a game-high four assists to go with four caused turnovers, three ground balls and two draw controls, while sophomore attacker Hayley Napier (Fairhaven, Mass.) scored a goal, assisted on another and came up with two ground balls. First year goalie Jackie Tarsook (Derry, N.H.) made eight saves for Mount Ida.
The Sharks scored the first four goals of the game as part of a 7-1 outburst to take a six-goal lead with 14:46 remaining in the first half. Fries scored twice, while five other Simmons players scored a goal each, including scores from first years Elena Bragg (Belmont, Mass.) and Maiewski, sophomore Jolene Potter (Readfield, Maine) and senior midfielders Ashley Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Malone Oliver.
Pavao stopped the Sharks' second run of the first half with a goal to cut the deficit to 7-2 for the Mustangs.
Simmons responded with three unanswered goals to increase its lead to 10-2 with 5:34 remaining in the first period. The home team countered with three goals of its own to close out the half, including a pair from Pavao to pull Mount Ida to within 10-5 at halftime.
The teams traded goals to open the second half scoring before the Sharks reeled off four straight markers, including two from Fries, to take a 15-6 advantage with 16:56 showing in the second stanza. Pavao scored a pair of goals in a span of 83 seconds to bring the Mustangs to within 15-8 with just over 12 minutes to play, but those would be the last goals of the evening for the home team.
Simmons scored five more times, including a pair of scores with a player advantage and Fries netted her team-leading 25th and 26th goals of the year during the stretch to help secure the victory.
The Sharks will return to action on Saturday, April 9 when they take on Saint Joseph's College in a 4:00 p.m. GNAC match-up at Deering Memorial Stadium, while Mount Ida heads to Providence, R.I. on the same day to play Johnson & Wales University at 1:00 p.m.