PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Simmons College women's lacrosse team was defeated by host Johnson & Wales University, 20-5, this evening in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at Scotts Miracle-Gro Field in Providence, R.I. The Sharks fall to 5-7 overall and 2-2 in league play, while the Wildcats improve to 8-4 and 4-0.
The Johnson & Wales defense forced Simmons into 21 turnovers and held it to just four successful clears out of 11 attempts.
Sophomore midfielder Elena Bragg (Belmont, Mass.) led the Sharks with a pair of goals and added five draw controls and a ground ball, while junior attacker Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.), sophomore attacker Missie Maiewski (Northampton, Mass.) and sophomore midfielder Ana Giarrusso (Hingham, Mass.) each netted a goal for Simmons. Giarrusso also added three ground balls and a caused turnover to join first year defender Krystianna Pietrzak (Bennington, Vt.) with the team-high for ground balls in the game. Junior Chyenne Yeager (Indiana, Pa.) made 11 saves for the Sharks.
Senior midfielder Lydia Knapp (Glens Falls, N.Y.) led the Wildcats with four goals and an assist and was one of six players with multiple goals for JWU. She scored her 200th career goal at the 11:30 mark of the first half and also won seven draw controls, picked up a ground ball and caused a turnover. Junior attacker Raquel Pederzani (Coventry, R.I.) registered five points as well with three goals and two assists to go with two draw controls, a pair of ground balls and a caused turnover, while junior attacker Gabrielle Vasile (Milford, Mass.) found the back of the net three times in addition to causing three turnovers, winning three draws and coming up with two ground balls. Junior goalie Marianna Consiglio (New Fairfield, Conn.) stopped seven shots in 55:06 of action, before yielding to sophomore Ashley Stavalo (Manchester, N.J.) for the final 4:54.
Simmons cracked the scoring column first when Giarrusso scored just 70 seconds into the contest, but the home team responded with six unanswered goals, including two each from Pederzani and Vasile to take a 6-1 lead with 19:57 left in the opening half. Fries broke up the string for the Sharks with her team-leading 32nd goal of the year at 18:43, but the Wildcats put three more goals on the board to take a 9-2 advantage with 15:43 showing in the period.
Maiewski scored on a feed from Simmons sophomore defender Mallory Cottam (Hope, R.I.), but Johnson & Wales closed out the half with five straight goals from five different players to take a 14-3 lead at the break.
Knapp and senior attacker Kayla Smith (Eastham, Mass.) each scored within the first four-plus minutes of the second stanza to increase the Johnson & Wales lead to 16-3. Bragg netted the first goal of the second half for the Sharks at 23:35 on a free position shot, before the Wildcats scored four in a row to take a 20-4 advantage. Bragg netted the final goal of the match with 6:24 left to play.
Simmons returns to action on Saturday, April 15 when it hosts Saint Joseph's College (Maine) at Daly Field for an 11:00 a.m. match, while the Wildcats host Emmanuel College on the same day at 1:00 p.m.