STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (6-3, 5-0 GNAC) pulled away with a dominant second quarter and rolled past Simmons University (3-5, 3-4 GNAC), 20-2, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse action at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Simmons scored first on a Lauren Krupnikoff (Farmington, Conn.) free-position goal just 40 seconds into the contest, but Saint Joseph's responded with 15 unanswered goals to turn the game into a rout. Junior Dinah Wadleigh (Augusta, Maine) tied the game off a feed from senior Sophia Burton (Minisink, N.Y.) before senior Celia Melanson (Waterford, Maine) put the Monks in front for good late in the opening quarter.
Saint Joseph's broke the game open with 10 goals in the second quarter, carried a 12-1 lead into halftime, and pushed the margin to 15-1 before Simmons scored again late in the third. The Monks added the final five goals of the afternoon to close out the 20-2 conference victory.
STATS OF THE GAME:
Saint Joseph's owned the statistical edge in nearly every category, including shots (41-6), shots on goal (29-4), and draw controls (15-7) while the Sharks committed 27 turnovers, including 15 caused by the Monks.
THE KEEPERS:
Saint Joseph's:
Junior Julia Price (Newbury, Mass.) made two saves and allowed one goal in the opening half to earn the win. Senior Alexis Eldridge (Effingham, N.H.) played the second half and allowed one goal.
Simmons:
Freshman Amelia Colon (Canton, Ohio) made 13 saves in the loss.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Celia Melanson – 2 goals, 4 assists
- Taylor Dumond (Jr., Minisink, N.Y.) – 4 goals, 2 ground balls
- Ella Highbarger (So., Kennebunk, Maine) – 4 goals, 6 draw controls, 2 caused turnovers
- Kiley Webber (So., Freeport, Maine) – 4 goals, 2 assists, 3 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
- Dinah Wadleigh – 1 goal, 4 assists
- Zoey Lailer (So., Limington, Maine) – 2 goals, 2 assists
- Ava Molineaux (So., Rowley, Mass.) – 2 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers, 4 draw controls
- Sophia Burton – 1 goal, 1 assist
LEADERS – SIMMONS:
- Lauren Krupnikoff – 1 goal, 3 ground balls
- Emily Horn (Barrington, R.I.) – 1 goal, 4 ground balls
- Leah Finn (Wells, Maine) – 1 assist
- Everett Garner (Richmond, Va.) – 5 draw controls, 2 caused turnovers
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the triumph, Saint Joseph's improves to 13-7 all-time versus Simmons University and has now defeated the Sharks in seven consecutive meetings.
NEXT!
The Monks return to action on Tuesday, March 31, when they host Lasell University in a GNAC contest scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM.
