Soccer Falls to Johnson & Wales, 4-0

BOSTON, Mass. - The Simmons College women's soccer team was defeated by visiting Johnson & Wales University, 4-0, this evening in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match on Daly Field in Brighton, Mass. The Sharks fall to 7-7-2 overall and 6-4-0 in league play, while the Wildcats extend their unbeaten streak to 10 straight, including eight consecutive wins to improve to 13-2-3 and 8-0-2.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Simmons College women's soccer player Tasha Friedman (Phoenix, Ariz.) has been selected to compete for the Maccabi USA Open Women's Soccer Team at the 20th World Maccabiah Games, which will take place July 4-18 in Israel, it was announced recently by Maccabi USA Open Women's Soccer Chairman Marc Backal, along with Head Coach Wendi Whitman and Assistant Coach Catie Chase.

Junior forward Kyra Selner (Sterling, Va.) netted a pair of goals to lead Johnson & Wales, while sophomore midfielder Christina Schneider (Walden, N.Y.) finished with a career-high three points on a goal and an assist. Junior forward Taylor Hopkins (Warminster, Pa.) registered the other goal for JWU. 

Selner opened the scoring for the Wildcats, 24:33 into the match, after an evenly played 20-plus minutes. She collected the ball 25 yards out from the net and lifted a shot over the outstretched fingertips of the Simmons keeper. The score remained the same until the 39th minute when the Sharks keeper came off her line, but Hopkins gathered the ball and fired a shot into the low right corner of the net to give Johnson & Wales a 2-0 lead going into the intermission. 

Selner notched her second tally of the contest on a header off a corner from Schneider, just over two minutes into the second half, increasing the JWU lead to 3-0. Schneider scored a goal of her own off a corner at 54:33 of the match when she curled a corner kick just inside the near post and past a defender, for a 4-0 Wildcat lead. 

Each team attempted 11 shots for the night, including seven on net for Johnson & Wales. The visitors held an 8-5 margin on corner kicks. 

Senior forward Allison Bondi (Macomb, Mich.), senior back Tasha Friedman (Phoenix, Ariz.)and sophomore midfielder Cíara Forde (Quincy, Mass.) each attempted a pair of shots for the Sharks. 

First year goalkeeper Colleen Lynch (New Milford, Conn.) earned the victory for the Wildcats, turning away six shots to notch her ninth shutout of the season. Simmons junior keeper Casey Halle (Watertown, Mass.) played the opening 60:55 of the game stopping one of five shots, while sophomore Lauren Williams (Bowdoinham, Maine) played the remaining 29:05 and turned away both shots she faced. The four Wildcat goals marked the first time this season that the Sharks allowed more than two goals in a game. 

Simmons is back in action on Saturday, October 22 when it travels to GNAC foe University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) for a 1:00 P.M. kickoff, while Johnson & Wales heads to Paxton, Mass. on October 21 to battle Anna Maria College at 6:00 P.M. in league action.