NEWTON, Mass. -- Senior attacker Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) scored four goals to lead the Simmons College women's lacrosse team in a 10-7 loss to host Mount Ida College this evening in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match at Alumni Field in Newton, Mass. The Sharks fall to 6-4 overall and 2-3 in league play, while the Mustangs win their eighth straight game and improve to 9-1 and a perfect 5-0 in GNAC action.
Simmons owned a 32-23 shot advantage, but Mount Ida senior goalie Eleanor Garvey (Eldridge, Md.) was outstanding in net for the home team, stopping 17 shots. The Sharks also held a 28-18 margin on ground balls and forced the Mustangs into 23 turnovers to their own total of 18, but Mount Ida found a way to come out on top at the end.
Fries scored four goals for the third straight game to give her four or more scores in a match six times this season for Simmons. She also added two ground ball and caused a pair of turnovers, while sophomore midfielder Amina Mansouri (Revere, Mass.) tied her career best with two goals for the second game in a row to go with a personal and game-high six ground balls in addition to a caused turnover. Junior midfielder Mallory Cottam (Hope, R.I.) contributed with a goal, five ground balls, three draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers. First year goalie Cat Cross (Beverly, Mass.) made eight saves.
Junior midfielder Brooke Scahill (Gales Ferry, Conn.) led Mount Ida with five points on four goals and an assist and added a game-high nine draw controls and a caused turnover, while junior middle Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) netted three goals in addition to an assist, two ground balls, a pair of draw controls and a caused turnover. First year attacker Jordyn Ringuette (Colchester, Conn.) chipped in with two goals, an assist, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Garvey added five ground balls to her save total for the Mustangs.
Cottam pulled the Sharks even at 5-5 with her 23rd goal of the season with 19:54 left to play in the second half. Mount Ida answered with three straight goals as part of a 5-1 run to take a 10-6 lead with 2:56 remaining in the contest. Ringuette, Kelly and Scahill each scored a goal in a span of five minutes to give the Mustangs an 8-5 margin with 9:35 showing in the second half. Fries halted the home team's scoring string with her third tally of the night to cut the deficit to 8-6 for Simmons at 6:49 of the period. Scahill scored just 29 seconds later to defuse any momentum the Sharks had mustered and senior midfielder Emily McConnell (Dracut, Mass.) gave Mount Ida a 10-6 lead with her 18th marker of the year on a free position shot at the 2:56 mark. Fries netted her 34th goal of the season for the night's last score to make it 10-7 with 93 seconds to go in the match.
The Mustangs got on the board first when Scahill scored with 23:34 to play in the opening half, but the Simmons defense held Mount Ida scoreless over the next 15-plus minutes, while the offense found the back of the net three times to give the Sharks a 3-1 lead. Fries scored two of the goals, before Mansouri scored with 11:32 showing on the first half clock. The Mustangs made up for lost time, putting together three scoring strikes in a span of 62 seconds to take a 4-3 edge with 7:14 left in the half. Ringuette, Scahill and Kelly provided the push for Mount Ida, before it took it's one-goal lead into the intermission.
Mansouri and Kelly traded goals to open the second stanza, before Cottam tied the match at 5-5.
Simmons returns to Newton on Saturday, April 7 when it takes on GNAC foe Lasell College at 1:00 p.m., while the Mustangs head to West Hartford, Conn. on April 10 to play conference rival University of Saint Joseph at 7:00 p.m.