BOSTON, Mass. – Simmons Field Hockey fell to the Spartans from Castleton State College, 6-3, in North Atlantic Conference action Wednesday evening. Kealy Chipman scored three goals in the win for the Spartans.
The rain fell sideways and steadily during the 70 minutes of play, but it didn't seem to hinder either team on the field. The Spartans struck early on a goal from Blake Wardwell at 4:22 who slipped in a rebound from Sharks goalkeeper Renna Smith (Belfast, Maine).
The Sharks responded with stellar midfield passing by Seneca Martensson (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Kelly Fisher (Yarmouth, Maine) to keep the ball in the Spartans end but it was Chipman who broke away and buried her first goal stick side off a pass from Wardwell at 23:00.
Castleton went up 3-0 on a long ball feed from the Spartans defense to Chipman who found teammate Kristy Pinkham in the circle for the tally at 33:27. The Sharks rebounded before the half was up when Martensson's hard work in the midfield paid off as she beat Spartan's keeper Bridget Dusha to put Simmons on the board.
Five minutes into the second half, Chipman scored her second goal of the evening off a blistering shot from Rachel Preusser. Less than 25 seconds later, Preusser buried her own shot past Smith to give the Spartans a 5-1 lead.
Senior Lee Sutherland (Wolfeboro, N.H.) found freshman Meghan Fay (Foxboro, Mass.) as an outlet before beating Dusha strong side to post the Sharks second goal. Four minutes later, Simmons capitalized on one of their 11 corners when Martensson tailed her second goal off an outside shot from Sutherland at 49:06. Senior Sasha Reilly (Wilmington, Mass.) was a force on defense and Martensson picked up a defensive save for the Sharks.
The Spartans held a slight advantage in shots 29-28 and Simmons edged the Spartans in penalty corners 11-9. Each goaltender picked up 15 saves.
The Sharks will play their last home game on October 22nd at 1:00 p.m. when they host Lasell College. The Spartans will host Saint Joseph's College (Maine) on the same date at 1:00 p.m.