STANDISH, Maine – Traveling north on an overcast and rainy day, Simmons soccer (0-10-2, 0-8-2 GNAC) was unable to hang on to an early 1-0 lead, falling to Saint Joseph's College of Maine ( 4-6-2, 4-4-2 GNAC) on Saturday afternoon.

Simmons stepped off the bus ready to play, firing five shots towards the net in the opening 16 minutes. Graduate senior Riley Wasiuk, who recorded three of those opening five shots, finally connected in the 19^th minute. From the top of the 18-yard box, Wasiuk collected a pass from fellow graduate senior Mia Nikolakopoulos and drilled the ball into the top corner to give the Sharks the 1-0 advantage.

The Sharks maintained the lead for the next nine minutes and looked poised to score more, keeping Monks goalkeeper Carly Downey active. However, Saint Joseph's Aaaliyah Wilson-Falcone scored the equalizer in the 28^th minute to send the game into halftime all square at 1-1.

When the teams returned to the field at the start of the second half, momentum began to shift towards the Monks with back-to-back corners in the first 10 minutes. The Sharks defense was able to minimize the damage and fend off those corner opportunities to preserve the 1-1 tie. But in the 57^th minute when Wilson-Falcone scored her second goal of the game to put the Monks on top for their first lead of the game.

Saint Joseph's added an insurance goal four minutes later on a penalty kick to take a 3-1 lead, but the Sharks were not giving up. Battling all the way to the end, Simmons continued to fire shots on the Monks defense, anticipating one to squeak through but to no avail.

SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS

• Graduate senior Riley Wasiuk scored her second goal of the season in the 19^th minute from the top of the 18-yard box to give the Sharks the early lead.
• Fellow graduate senior Mia Nikolakopoulos registered an assist on Wasiuk's goal for her first assist of the season.
• Sophomore Julia Rodgers registered seven saves in 90 minutes in net.

UP NEXT
Simmons returns to the field on Tuesday, October 10 when they travel to New Haven, Connecticut to face Albertus Magnus College. Kick off's at 4 p.m.