WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Sophomore attacker Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) tallied five points, including four goals to lead the Simmons College women's lacrosse team to a 13-8 victory over host University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) this afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action. The Sharks improve to 8-8 overall following their regular-season finale and are 5-4 in league play, while the Blue Jays fall to 4-11 and 1-8. Simmons earned the number five seed and will take on fourth-seeded Lasell College in the first round of the GNAC Tournament on Tuesday, May 3 at 3:00 p.m. on the campus of Lasell. 

The Sharks dominated possession of the ball, winning 18 of 23 draw controls, while owning a 42-16 shot advantage. 

Fries added a pair of draw controls and a ground ball to her day for Simmons, while first year attacker Missie Maiewski (North Hampton, Mass.) netted three goals to go with a ground ball, a caused turnover and a draw control. Classmate Elena Bragg (Belmont, Mass.) registered four points, including three assists and also came up with five ground balls and five draw controls. Sophomore attacker Kiera Kirkaldy (Middlebury, Vt.) also contributed with two scores, an assist and three ground balls. First year goalie Kenzie Rogers (Bourne, Mass.) stopped six shots to earn the victory for the visitors. 

First year attacker Rose St. Hilaire (West Hartford, Conn.) led all scorers with six goals for Saint Joseph and added three ground balls, a draw control and a ground ball. Sophomore attacker Hannah Lemek (Bristol, Conn.) and junior defender Vicky Thai (West Hartford, Conn.) each recorded a goal for the Blue Jays. Sophomore netminder Emily Bourassa (Bristol, Conn.) made 21 saves for Saint Joseph. 

Lemek put the Blue Jays on the board less than four minutes into the contest and St. Hilaire scored two of the game's next two goals to give Saint Joseph a 3-1 lead with 20:51 left in the match. The Sharks ripped off five unanswered goals, from five different players, to take a 6-3 lead with 10:04 left in the opening half. Thai scored at the 9:38 mark to pull the Blue Jays to within 6-4, but Sheehan and Fries each scored for Simmons to give it an 8-4 lead heading into the intermission. 

St. Hilaire scored just 96 seconds into the second stanza and traded markers with Maiewski to bring Saint Joseph to within 9-6 with 24:38 showing in the second half. It would be as close as the home team would get the rest of the day. The Simmons defense held the Blue Jays to just two goals in the final 24:38 of action, while scoring four times, including two tallies from Fries to give the Sharks the victory.