BRIGHTON, Mass. – Simmons soccer (1-2-1) picked up its first victory of the season with a commanding 4-2 victory over Eastern Nazarene College (0-3) on Thursday evening. Additionally, it was the Sharks first win over the Lions in program history.

The Sharks carried their Tuesday night momentum into Thursday and kept the pressure up on the Lions, winning the possession battled 64% to 36%. Nearly 15 minutes into the contest, first-year Courtney Sweeney connected with senior Riley Wasiuk from well outside the 18-yard box, who buried the ball into the upper right-hand corner.

Eight minutes later Simmons added to their lead. Sprinting up the field into the offensive attacking zone, senior Izabella Warren connected with junior Sydney Neumuth in the 23^rd minute to give the Sharks the 2-0 advantage. But the Simmons offense was far from done. A minute later, first-year Kayla Noonan booted the ball just past Lions goalkeeper Jasmine Arzu and into the lower left-hand corner of the net to take a 3-0 lead into half time.  

Emerging at the start of the second 45 minutes, Eastern Nazarene broke up the shutout with Rachel Pieger scoring on a penalty, nine minutes into the second. Midway through the half, the Lions cut the Sharks lead to one scoring off a corner in the 79^th minute. But the Sharks answered quickly. Noonan registered her second goal of the game, on pass from junior Jill Napolitano looping a shot just over the jumping Arzu to put Simmons back up by a pair.  

Junior goalkeeper Marita Nothacker earned her first victory of the season registering two saves in 90 minutes.

SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS

• First-year Kayla Noonan registered a career single-game high two goals, including the game winner in the 24^th minute. She currently leads the Sharks with three goals and six points on the season.
• Junior midfielder Jill Napolitano registered her first assist of her collegiate career, connecting Noonan on the final goal of the game.
• Senior Riley Wasiuk recorded her first goal of her collegiate career scoring the opening goal in the first 14 minutes of play.
• Wasiuk alongside, juniors Mo Grant and Olivia Hewitt were the only three players to play all 90 minutes of the game.

GAME NOTES

• Simmons earns their first win over Eastern Nazarene, improving to 1-0-1 all-time.
• The Sharks controlled the majority of the game, winning the possession battle, 64%-36%.

UP NEXT
Simmons returns to action on Saturday, September 10 when they open GNAC play, traveling north to Nashua, N.H. to play Rivier University at 3:30 p.m.