BRIGHTON, Mass. – Simmons field hockey (13-2, 7-1 GNAC) suffered its first conference and just their second loss on the season, falling to Johnson & Wales University, 3-2, on penalty strokes, (10-4, 8-0) in a pivotal conference match-up on Wednesday evening.
The Wildcats controlled the game early in the first quarter and looked poised to put points on the board after earning a penalty corner eight minutes. But the Shark defense came up strong and kept the game scoreless. However, JWU answered nearly two minutes with a goal by Zofia Bangs to take the 1-0 lead.
It didn't look like it was going to last for very long as the Sharks were awarded back-to-back penalty corners. Sophomore
Katy Paveglio fired a shot on goal that was knocked away by the JWU goalie.
The Sharks finally scored the equalizer six minutes into the second quarter. Coming off a penalty corner, senior
Hannah Groves connected with junior
Zoe Schmaling along the nearside to tie the game going into half.
Returning the field at the start of the second half, the two teams battle through a scoreless third period before Schmaling notched her second goal of the game a minute into the fourth. It was a short-lived lead as the Wildcats answered to minutes later as we headed to overtime.
The Sharks and Wildcats kept each other off the scoreboard for a full 20 minutes of overtime as the two teams proceeded to penalty strokes. JWU got the best of Simmons in penalty strokes to remain perfect in conference play.
SIMMONS HIGHLIGHTS
UP NEXT
Simmons returns to the field on Saturday, October 19 when they travel to Henniker, New Hampshire to face New England College.
