SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Springfield College women's soccer team defeated visiting Simmons College, 3-0, this evening in Springfield, Mass. to end the Sharks' three-match win streak. Simmons falls to 9-7-2 on the season in its regular-season finale , while the Pride extend their unbeaten streak to eight straight games and improve to 10-3-3. It was just the second shutout loss of the season for the Sharks.
Springfield controlled the match, outshooting Simmons, 23-2, while holding an 8-1 advantage on corner kicks.
With 18:26 remaining in the first half, first year midfielder Dakota Kelly (Bethany, Conn.) hit a through ball behind the Sharks' defense and, after a foot race to the ball between the Simmons keeper and Jessica Miller (Southbury, Conn.), the junior forward chipped the ball past the goalie directly to junior forward Krissy Cicalis (Bridgewater, Mass.), who tapped the ball into the empty net to give the Pride a 1-0 edge.
The score remained the same as the half came to a close.
Just 7:52 into the second half, following a foul from the Sharks, junior midfielder Brooke Hattinger (Weymouth, Mass.) set up to take a free kick from well outside the Simmons box and after lofting a ball over thedefense, the shot redirected off the crossbar and into the back of the net for the Pride's second goal of the contest.
The Pride capped the night's scoring to make it 3-0 with just over six minutes to play in the contest. After a diving save from the Sharks' keeper on Amanda Calzolano (Levittown, N.Y.), the rebound kicked out to junior midfielder Mariah Ferrara (North Adams, Mass.), who then passed a ball back to first year midfielder Mikaela Coady (Middletown, Conn.), who fired a shot into the top-right corner of the net for her first collegiate goal with 6:07 remaining in the match.
Junior forward Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) and junior midfielder Victoria Russo (Braintree, Mass.) each put a shot on net to lead the Sharks' offense.
Junior keeper Briana Hayes (Manorville, N.Y.) stopped a season-high 11 shots for Simmons, while senior keeper Holly Ouellette (Shrewsbury, Mass.) turned away the only shot she faced in the first half for Springfield to earn the victory, before yielding to classmate Lucy Gillett (Rockville, Centre, N.Y.), who also made one save in the second half without allowing a score.
Simmons returns to action on Sunday, November 2 when it hosts Johnson & Wales University in the quarterfinals of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament. The third-seeded Sharks take on the number six seed Wildcats at 12:00 p.m. The Pride wrap up their regular season on November 1, heading to Wellesley, Mass. to play Wellesley College at 1:00 p.m.