STANDISH, Maine – Juniors Kayla and Kara Kelly (York, Maine) netted five goals apiece to help lift Saint Joseph's College (4-0, 1-0 GNAC) past Simmons College (4-2, 0-1 GNAC), 16-9, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks held an 8-2 lead after senior Elyse Caiazzo (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) scored off a Kara Kelly assist with 3:23 left in the first half, but the Sharks rallied with six unanswered strikes, including three from junior Elena Bragg (Belmont, Mass.), to knot the conference contest at 8-8 with 20:12 remaining in the second stanza.

After Simmons junior Missie Maiewski (Northampton, Mass.) netted the game-tying goal, Saint Joseph's Head Coach Rupert Lewis called a timeout to help his team regroup, and the message relayed during the stoppage seemed to jumpstart the Monks, who tallied six-consecutive markers over the following 12 minutes to stake a 14-8 cushion.

THE KEEPERS:

Saint Joseph's sophomore Kaylin Mansir (West Gardiner, Maine) posted seven saves in the victory while her counterpart, Simmons freshman Cat Cross (Beverly, Mass.), played well in net and made 21 stops in the losing effort.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held sizeable advantages in shots (40-21), ground balls (28-10), and draw controls (17-10) and was 8-10 on clear attempts with 10 turnovers in the conference opener. Simmons was 11-22 on clear bids and committed 20 turnovers on the afternoon.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Kayla Kelly tallied five goals, two assists, five ground balls, and nine draw controls
• Kara Kelly scored five goals with two assists and five ground balls
• Caiazzo contributed four goals and an assist with eight ground balls and four draw controls
• Sophomore Madison Beaulieu (West Gardiner, Maine) added a goal and an assist
• Junior Brittany Arsenault (Westbrook, Maine) scored a goal with three ground balls, four draw controls, and three caused turnovers

LEADERS – SIMMONS:

• Bragg paced the Sharks with four goals and added an assist, three ground balls, and a pair of draw controls
• Junior Mallory Cottam (Hope, R.I.) registered three goals, two ground balls, five draw controls, and two caused turnovers

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 6-6 all-time versus Simmons College. In the last meeting between these two teams, the Sharks upset the Monks, 11-10, in a GNAC Tournament semifinal matchup on May 5th, 2017.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's travels to Albertus Magnus College Saturday for a 1:00 PM GNAC contest. Simmons hosts Johnson & Wales University at 7:00 PM on Thursday.

$website.include("/sports/boiler_plate")