Simmons College (5-7-1, 4-4 GNAC) scored two first-half goals to nip Saint Joseph's Maine (6-4, 4-4 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's soccer contest Saturday afternoon at Westerlea Way Field.

The Sharks, who entered today's match having dropped four straight, scored early and very late in the opening stanza. Sophomore Ally Ayotte (Litchfield, N.H.) opened the scoring with a marker off a Justine Beauchamp (Exeter, N.H.) pass 9:55 into play and Beauchamp tallied an unassisted marker at the 44:59 mark to double the visitor's advantage heading into intermission.

The Monks, who outshot the Sharks by a 15-4 margin and held a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks in the loss, came out firing in the second half to no avail. The Royal Blue managed to register eight shots in the latter period, with five finding the target, while Simmons was held without an attempt in the second half.

The Monks were unable to solve Simmons sophomore netminder Ashley Donaghey (Framingham, Mass.), who recorded seven saves in the Sharks' victory.

Monks sophomore Katherine Chambers nearly cut her team's deficit in half early in the second half, but her attempt at the 48:28 mark rattled off the goal frame.

St. Joe's keeper Jaci Lorenzen made one stop in the loss and Ashley Beaulieu led all players with four shots, including a pair on net.

The St. Joe's-Simmons series has been evenly matched throughout the years, as the SJC loss puts the series record at 2-2-1. The Monks opened the season with a 5-0 record, but have now dropped four of their last five games with all setbacks being conference defeats.

Simmons is set to host Johnson & Wales at 4:00pm Monday, while Saint Joseph's will play at St. Joseph (CT) on Monday at 4:00pm.