BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore forward Cierra Martin (Rock Tavern, N.Y.) scored with 3:33 left in the match to give the Simmons University women's soccer team a 2-1 victory over visiting Lesley University this evening at Daly Field in Brighton, Mass. The Sharks win their second match in as many nights to improve to 2-3-0 on the season, while the Lynx fall to 2-3-0. The triumph snapped a four-match winless streak for Simmons against Lesley, including a tie in each of the past two seasons.
The Sharks made the most of their opportunities after being outshot by their guests, 19-6. The Lynx also owned an 8-1 advantage on corner kicks.
Simmons took advantage of a Lesley turnover in their defensive zone, when Martin came up with the steal, fed senior forward Mikayla Elliott (Lowell, Mass.), who returned a cross on the give-and-go to Martin, who scored from the left side of the box to give the Sharks a 2-1 lead with her first goal of the year at 86:27.
The Lynx cracked the scoring column in the second half, following 60 minutes of scoreless play. Sophomore midfielder Julia Cohn (Farmington, Conn.) rocketed a shot off the crossbar from 20 yards out that senior forward Samantha Bessey (Algonquin, Ill.) was able to gather for a rebound shot that resulted in her fourth marker of the season and a 1-0 edge in the 62nd minute of play.
Simmons knotted the match just over 13 minutes later when senior Cíara Forde (Quincy, Mass.) fed Elliott for her second score of the year. Forde sent a lead cross up the field for Elliott, who dribbled the ball into the top of the box to draw the keeper in close, before she made a move and then banked a shot just inside the right post at 74:54 of the second stanza.
Senior Lauren Williams (Bowdoinham, Maine) made five saves to earn the victory for the Sharks, while sophomore Jill Narby (Huntington, N.Y.) recorded a pair of stops for Lesley.
Simmons returns to action on Wednesday, September 19 when it heads to Hartford, Conn. to take on Great Northeast Athletic Conference foe University of Saint Joseph for a 4:00 p.m. start, while the Lynx travel to Bennington, Vt. to play New England Collegiate Conference rival Southern Vermont College at 1:00 p.m.