Simmons Outstrokes Regis For 3-2 Victory

WESTON, Mass. – The Simmons University field hockey team prevailed on penalty strokes following two scoreless overtime periods to capture a 3-2 victory over host Regis College (Mass.) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action this afternoon at Regis Stadium in Weston, Mass. The Sharks improve to 5-5 overall, including 2-1 in GNAC play, while the Pride fall to 2-6 and 0-2.

Regis owned an 18-16 shot advantage, including 11-7 in the final two quarters of regulation, before Simmons posted a 7-4 shot margin in the overtime periods. The Pride also owned an 8-7 edge in penalty corners.

Regis scored a pair of goals last in the fourth quarter to send the match into overtime, where neither team was able to break through with the winning score to send the match to be decided by penalty strokes.

Both teams failed to find the back of the cage in the first round of strokes, but first year midfielder Maddie Beckwith (Winslow, Maine) gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead following the second round. The teams both missed on their third-round attempts to set up a fourth round that saw sophomore forward Emily Plummer (San Diego, Calif.) register a successful try, while the Pride came away empty handed for the fourth consecutive round to give Simmons a 2-0 margin in strokes for the deciding goal of the match.

Regis faced a 2-0 deficit with less than seven minutes to play in regulation, before scoring twice in just over a five-minute span to knot the contest at 2-2. First year forward Nora Buck (Shawnut, Maine) sent a long cross to the goalmouth, where junior forward Jamie Juskiewicz (Gorham, Maine) converted with a shot into the lower left corner for her second tally of the year with 6:26 to go in the fourth quarter. The Pride looked for the equalizer just over four minutes later when they were awarded a penalty shot. Junior back Joslyn O'Brien (Petersham, Mass.) fired the shot for the home team, but was turned away when junior goalie Lucy McNamara (Brewster, Mass.) made a diving stop to her right to keep the Sharks in front for the time being.

Regis received another chance to tie the contest less than a minute later and did not disappoint the home crowd when first year forward Sheridan Blaha (Waltham, Mass.) scored her team-leading seventh goal of the year with just 81 seconds remaining in regulation.

Senior forward Olivia Trull (Lowell, Mass.) scored the first of two goals on the day to open the scoring for Simmons. Plummer deflected a cross in front of the cage to Trull, who fired a shot from the left side of the cage for her fifth goal of the year just 3:52 into the second quarter. The Sharks increased their lead to 2-0 with 8:09 showing in the fourth quarter when Plummer intercepted the ball and found Trull in front of the cage for her team-leading sixth marker of the season.

McNamara stopped 11 shots to earn the win for Simmons, while junior goalie Hope Winkin (Winslow, Maine) made eight saves for the Pride.

Regis returns to action on October 2 when it travels to Frankin, Mass. for a 3:00 p.m. tilt with Dean College, while the Sharks head to Northampton, Mass. to take on Smith College on October 1 at 6:30 p.m.