Sharks Remain Unbeaten After Battle With Monks, 2-2

Simmons College took Saint Joseph?s of Maine into double-overtime on Monday?s Great Northeast Athletic Conference matchup. The Sharks battled the monks for a total of 110 minutes, but neither team was unable to net a goal to decide the contest.

Simmons College took Saint Joseph's of Maine into double-overtime on Monday's Great Northeast Athletic Conference matchup. The Sharks battled the monks for a total of 110 minutes, but neither team was unable to net a goal to decide the contest.

Simmons attempted to take the lead, but was denied by Monks' goalkeeper Kate Mayo made a diving save to reject a penalty shot by junior Brooke MacKenzie (Mansfield, Mass.) after a hard foul in the penalty area. The Sharks got on the board four minutes later as freshman Justine Beauchamp (Exeter, N.H.) found herself open 12 yards out and put a shot over the Monks' goalkeeper to give Simmons the lead in the 18th minute. Simmons maintain the advantage until the 40th minute when Saint Joseph's Mikayla Call found teammate Jessica Needham with a pass through the Sharks line of defense to score the equalizer. The Sharks and Monks headed into the halftime break with a tied score of 1-1.

The second half saw back and forth action for both teams until Simmons junior Allie Megna (North Hampton, N.H.) collected the ball and dribbled into the penalty area to slide a shot by Mayo. It appeared that Megna's goal would be enough for the Sharks to earn the victory heading into the 89th minute. The Monks earned a throw-in in their attacking third which led to the late equalizer as Shannon Fitzgerald snuck the ball past senior goalkeeper Rachel Elliott (Amherst, NH) in the crowded penalty area. With a score tied at 2-2, the match headed into sudden victory overtime.

Playing an additional 20 minutes was not long enough for either team to earn a victory. The first overtime period was dominated by SJM as they outshot the Sharks 7-0 but were unable to convert any of those opportunities. The second overtime was dominated by Simmons as they took a 6-0 shot advantage, yet were unable to convert.

Simmons, 3-0-1, will host The Panthers of Plymouth State University at 7:00pm on Wednesday, September 9.