BOSTON, Mass. -- Simmons Lacrosse remains undefeated in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference after defeating the Emmanuel College Saints, 12-7 in the much-anticipated Fenway rivalry matchup.
Stephanie Oliveri (Waltham, Mass.) paced the Sharks with a season-high five goals and senior goalkeeper Kelly Last (West Haven, Conn.) came up huge in the second half with nine saves to ensure the Sharks victory.
The Sharks opened the scoring as Oliveri beat Saints goalkeeper Lauren White up high off a pass from Rachel Wallace (Braintree, Mass.). Oliveri double the score just two minutes later but Emmanuel's Alexia Basile put the Saints on the board to cut the Sharks lead to one.
With ten minutes to play in the first half, Simmons unleashed their offense as freshman Greer Gilbert (Falmouth, Mass.) scored twice and Ashley Sheehan (North Attleboro, Mass.), Ali Stonehouse (Keene, N.H.), Wallace and Oliveri put the Sharks up 8-1. With 18 seconds remaining in the half, Saints freshman Kristen Tuleja tallied her first of the game as the Sharks held an 8-2 lead into halftime.
The Saints (3-2, 0-2 GNAC) outscored the Sharks in the second half, 5-4 as Kristen Tuleja scored three straight goals for Emmanuel. Oliveri rolled the crease during a man up situation for her forth goal of the game and scored her final goal with 15:03 remaining as the Sharks held a 10-5 lead.
Emmanuel's Alexia Basile ran the ball coast to coast during a Saints man up advantage to cut the Sharks lead but Gilbert and Sheehan added insurance goals to keep the Sharks safely ahead. Sarah Higgins added the last Saints goal with 4:25 to play.
On defense, Simmons sophomore Chelsea Keefe (Averill Park, N.Y.) recorded four ground balls and caused five turnovers, while Emmanuel's Tuleja posted four ground balls and three caused turnovers.
The Sharks held a slight advantage in draw controls, 11-10 and shots, 25-22. Kelly Last made 13 saves for her fourth win of the season while Lauren White stopped nine shots in the loss.
Simmons has now won five straight games and move to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the GNAC. The team will return to action on Saturday, when they host Saint Joseph's College of Maine at 11:00 a.m.