BOSTON, Mass. – Junior attacker Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) and sophomore midfielder Elena Bragg (Belmont, Mass.) each tallied three goals and added an assist to lead the Simmons College women's lacrosse team in a 13-10 loss to visiting Saint Joseph's College (Maine) this afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest on Daly Field in Brighton, Mass. The Monks improve to 7-2 overall, including 4-0 in conference play, while the Sharks fall to 5-8 and 2-3.
Fries also came up with a pair of ground balls and Bragg won six draws, picked up three ground balls and forced a pair of turnovers. Sophomore attacker Missie Maiewski (Northampton, Mass.) also contributed with a goal, four ground balls and three caused turnovers for Simmons. Junior goalie Chyenne Yeager (Indiana, Pa.) made two saves for the home team.
Junior attacker Elyse Caiazzo (Scarborough, Maine) and senior midfielder Jackie Wilson (Tiverton, R.I.) each tallied five points with four goals and an assist apiece to lead Saint Joseph's. Caiazzo also added three draws and two caused turnovers, while Wilson caused a turnover, picked up three ground balls and won five draw controls for the Monks. Sophomore midfielder Kayla Kelly (York, Maine) also scored multiple markers with two to go with an assist. Junior defender Brianne Maloney (South Porland, Maine) registered a game-high six ground balls. First year goalie Kaylin Mansir (West Gardiner, Maine) was outstanding between the posts for the visitors, despite Simmons owning a 30-20 shot advantage, she was still able to turn away 10 attempts on net.
Maiewski and sophomore defender Mallory Cottam (Hope, R.I) each netted a goal to open the match and give the Sharks a 2-0 lead with 24:04 to play in the opening half. The Monks responded with five unanswered goals, including three from Caiazzo, to take a 5-2 margin with 11:50 remaining in the opening period. Fries and Bragg scored within 17 seconds of one another to pull Simmons to within 5-4, but Saint Joseph's scored the final two goals of the half and the first two goals of the second period to increase its' advantage to 9-4 for a seemingly comfortable cushion. Wilson's third goal of the afternoon gave the Monks the five-goal lead with 24:21 showing on the second half. Wilson struck again, less than 11 minutes later, to give Saint Joseph's its biggest lead of the day at 12-6 with 13:48 showing in the second half.
The Sharks scored four of the game's final five goals, with two each coming from Fries and Bragg, to cut the deficit to 13-10, but the home team just didn't have enough time to complete the rally, despite owning a 16-7 shot disparity in the half.
Simmons returns to action on Wednesday, April 19 when it heads to Nashua, N.H. to take on GNAC foe Rivier University at 7:00 p.m., while the Monks host Lasell College on the same night in Portland, Maine at 8:00 p.m.