PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Simmons lacrosse (13-4, 11-2 GNAC) fell to Johnson & Wales University (13-2, 13-0 GNAC) on the road to conclude the 2023 regular season on Wednesday evening.

The Wildcats were quick to jump on the board first, scoring a minute into the contest, but was short-lived. Senior Sammi Hogan buried the equalizer just over a minute-and-a-half later for th Sharks first goal. However, the Wildcats took advantage of Shark turnovers and rattled off four straight goals to end the period with a 5-0 lead.

Simmons chipped their way back into the game. Graduate senior Abby Stoller opened the second quarter, driving towards the goal to score the Sharks second goal of the game and cut the deficit to three, 5-2. After the Wildcats pushed the spread back to four, the Sharks continued to hang around.  

Along the nearside of the field, sophomore Layla Drinkwater prevented a turnover and scooped up a loose ball. She, then, tossed it to a wide open Stoller, who causally, behind-the-back flipped it into the corner of the goal to cut the lead in half, 6-3. But the Wildcats answered with a string of four straight goals to take a 10-3 lead into halftime.  

Momentum appeared to have shift addresses at the start of the third quarter, with the Sharks scoring three goals within four minutes. Senior Lauren Whitman's unassisted goal cut the Wildcat lead in half was sandwiched in between Stoller's third and fourth goals of the game. The Wildcats went up by five once again on a free position shot by Madeleine Gould, but with three minutes remaining in the period sophomore Frida Turriza brought it back to a four-goal spread. However, Johnson & wales ended with a pair of goals in the final two minutes to take a 13-7 lead into the final quarter.

Turriza opened the final stanza registering her second goal of the game and bring the Wildcat lead back down to five, but it was not enough. The Wildcats scored twice more to increase to seal the game.

SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS

• Graduate student Abby Stoller led the Sharks offense with four goals.
• Sophomore Frida Turriza followed up with a pair, while seniors Lauren Whitman and Sammi Hogan each added a goal.
• Sophomore Layla Drinkwater added an assist on Stoller's second goal also recorded a career single-game best with six ground balls.

UP NEXT
Simmons returns to the field hosting No. 6 Dean College in the first round of the 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) post-season tournament on Friday, April 28 at 7 p.m.