BRIGHTON, Mass. – The fifth seed Norwich University (10-5) upset the fourth seed Simmons lacrosse, 10-8, in the first round of the 2024 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC ) Championship Tournament on Thursday evening.
Simmons wasted little time and jumped out in front to a 2-0 lead within the first five minutes. Sophomore Campbell Craned connected with junior Maddie Desimio-Maloney to score the opening goal before junior Layla Drinkwater registered a free position goal a minute later to put the Sharks up two.
Momentum stayed with the Sharks throughout the majority of the first quarter. The Cadets finally jumped on the scoreboard in the 10th minute on an unassisted goal by Sophie Zemianek, but Simmons got that right back. Drinkwater connected with junior Kat Wood two minutes later to go back in front by two.
Just before the end of the first period, Norwich pulled back to within one, finding the back of the net with 37 seconds left and ignited a 5-0 run by the Cadets. Six minutes into the second quarter Norwich tied the game at three on a goal by Ellie Moriarty then went on to score two more goals within the next four minutes to take a 5-3.
However, with three minutes before halftime, junior Frida Turriza pulled the Sharks to within one, 5-4, going into the intermission.
When the teams returned to the field at the start of the second half, the Cadets came out strong, rattling off four straight goals to take a 9-4 lead. But the Sharks were not going to be denied and kept putting pressure on the Cadet defense. Senior attacker Cameron Richards broke up the 4-0 run with her first goal of the game to cut the deficit to four.
The late game comeback was on. At the start of the fourth quarter, Wood connected with Desimio-Maloney to pull the Sharks to within three. The winds began to shift over to the Shark bench. Turriza made it at two-goal game, tallying her second goal of the game, before graduate senior Riley Wasiuk registered a free-position goal to pull the Sharks to within one, 9-8, of the Cadet lead.
But it was as close as they would get. Norwich added an insurance goal on a player advantage in the 10th minute of the period to extend the lead to 10-8.
First-year goalkeeper Anya Younie played solid in net rejecting 12 shots on net from Norwich attackers to keep the Shark in the game.
SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS
- Junior Maddie Desimio-Maloney opened the game with the game's first goal as she led the Sharks with two goals along with fellow junior Frida Turriza.
- Junior Layla Drinkwater registered a goal and two assist while tallying four caused turnovers, four ground balls and winning three draw controls.
- First-year Lauren Krupnikoff scooped up three ground balls