BRIGHTON, Mass. - February 27, 2018 - The Colby-Sawyer women's lacrosse team was edged by Simmons, 14-13, in overtime in the first ever meeting between the two teams.

Simmons goes to 1-0, while Colby-Sawyer drops to 1-1. The two teams will become regular competitors starting next year as the Chargers join the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC). The Sharks were picked sixth in the GNAC preseason poll. Colby-Sawyer is back in action on Saturday with a 1 p.m. game at Mount Ida, the third team in a stretch of four-straight from the GNAC to begin the season. 

Nicole Lavigne led the Chargers with six goals. She moved into fourth on the all-time goals list with 165 and now ranks tied for fifth in career points with 197. Briana Couture notched three goals for the second game in a row. Sarah Morin scored her first collegiate goal and finished with a pair, while Allison Piracini also recorded her first tally. Sierra Schuster accounted for the other Charger goal. 

Junior midfielder Ana Giarrusso (Hingham, Mass.) finished with three goals for the Sharks. Reinhold found the back of the net twice and grabbed nine draw controls. Junior midfielder Mallory Cottam (Hope, R.I.) scored a pair of goals.

Simmons senior Kasey Fries (Bridgewater, Mass.) sent the match into overtime with no time left in regulation and then netted the game-winner with less than two minutes to play to give Simmons the win. 
 
Fries picked up a a rebound with 14 seconds left in the second half and later fired a low shot that found the back of the net as time expired to knot the contest at 13-13 for the Sharks. Simmons took the opening draw of overtime and held the ball for all but 20 seconds of the shot clock to set up Fries' game winner on a hard skipped shot that bounced past the goal line for her fifth tally of the night.
 
The teams literally matched each other shot for shot with each team firing 14 shots in the opening half and 17 in the second half, before Simmons' only attempt of the overtime sent it home with the victory.
 
Lavigne and Couture combined to score four unanswered goals in the final minutes of the second half to erase a three-goal deficit and give Colby-Sawyer a 13-12 edge. Lavigne ignited the final rush with a goal at the 3:16 mark to pull the Chargers to within 12-10, before Couture's tally, on a feed from junior attacker Brittany Ireland, gave Colby-Sawyer its second advantage of the night with 34 ticks remaining on the second half clock.
 
Simmons scored six of the first eight goals to open the first half, including a pair from Fries, for a 6-2 lead with 11:43 left in the first half. The Chargers regrouped and built momentum with three straight goals prior to the intermission to close to within a goal.
 
Colby-Sawyer continued its offensive prowess with Lavigne netting the first two goals of the second stanza to take a 7-6 edge early in the period. The Sharks put together another 6-2 run, capped by a pair of scores from Giarrusso to take a 12-9 lead at the 6:36 mark of the second half.

Sharks Senior goalie Chyenne Yeager (Indiana, Pa.) stopped 10 shots to earn the win for the home team. Colby-Sawyer sophomore goalie Kailyn Lapham finished with nine saves.

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