FIELD HOCKEY: Simmons knocks Anna Maria from GNAC playoffs

The Basics:

-Score: Simmons College 8, Anna Maria College 0

-Records: Simmons (12-6), Anna Maria (5-14)

-Location: Brighton, Mass. (Daly Field)

- The Lead: Senior Julie Saltamartini (East Hampstead, N.H.) matched her career high with four goals Saturday to give her 21 to break the school mark for season markers, while leading the third-seeded Simmons College field hockey team to an 8-0 victory over number six seed Anna Maria College in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship Tournament Quarterfinals at Daly Field.

-The Sharks improve to 12-6 and advance to the GNAC Semifinals at second-seeded Saint Joseph's College (Maine) in Standish, Maine on Wednesday, November 1. The AMCATS finish their season with a 5-14 mark.

 How It Happened:

-Simmons held a commanding 25-6 advantage in shots while holding a 13-2 cushion in penalty corners.

 -Saltamartini wasn't the only player to score multiple goals as classmate Sammy Rondeau (Franklin, Mass.) joined her with a trio of scores for her second hat trick of the season to give the Sharks their first pair of players with a hat trick each in a match in at least a decade.

 -Junior midfielder Meghan Fontaine (Westminster, Mass.) broke open the high-scoring match for the Sharks 3:57 into the opening half when she blasted a shot from the top of the circle past the keeper off an insert from Rondeau, to give the home team the lead for good. Saltamartini scored three straight goals in just over a 20-minute span, highlighted by an unassisted goal at 23:20 when she lifted a shot into the upper far post of the cage for a 3-0 Simmons lead. Rondeau added a late goal before the half when she collected her own rebound and found the back of the cage for a 5-0 halftime margin for the Sharks.

-Rondeau tallied two more goals for the hat trick to begin the second period coming off assists from junior midfielder Ana Giarrusso (Hingham, Mass.) and sophomore forward Olivia Trull (Lowell, Mass.). Saltamartini capped the scoring at 69:19 when she dribbled up the sideline to escape multiple defenders before slotting a ball to the short side of the cage to match her career high with four goals and an 8-0 Simmons lead.

 -Anna Maria was led by senior midfielder Jacqueline Lapierre (Worcester, Mass.) who totaled three shots on the day with two being on cage.

-Freshman keeper Lucy McNamara (Brewster, Mass.) recorded three saves on the day for the Sharks, while also receiving help from classmate Abigail Anderson (South Yarmouth, Mass.), who registered a defensive save. 

-Senior goalkeeper Bryanna Tobin (Deep River, Conn.) turned away eight shots for the AMCATS and sophomore midfielder Lauren Lapierre (Worcester, Mass.) notched a pair of defensive saves in the match. Brittney Cherry (Worcester, Mass.) added another defensive stop for the visitors as well.

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