STANDISH, ME – Freshman forward Amanda Celata (Dedham, Mass.) broke a scoreless stalemate with 15 seconds remaining in regulation to lift Saint Joseph's (4-2, 2-0 NAC) past Simmons College (1-5, 0-1 NAC) in a North Atlantic Conference (NAC) field hockey contest at Mercy Field on Sunday afternoon.
With extra play seeming imminent and the Sharks attempting to clear out of their defensive end, junior captain Theresa Hendrix (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) pick-pocketed a Simmons defender in the right corner and quickly fed freshman Allyson Allard (Parsonsfield, Maine), who served a crossing pass to Celata at the goalmouth. Celata finished the play with a one-timer shot to the bottom right corner of the cage for her third goal of the year and second game-winner in the last week.
Celata's goal was the first to go up on the Monks' brand new scoreboard, which was installed just a few days ago on the southwest end of Mercy Field.
Both teams had opportunities to net the game's first goal earlier in the contest and the Sharks registered three such chances over an eight-minute span early in the second stanza. In the 46th minute, following a penalty corner taken by freshman Amy Cronin (Georgetown, Mass.), sophomore midfielder Meghan Fay (Foxboro, Mass.) took a shot that clanged off the left post. Less than 30 seconds later, Fay had a prime opportunity to score again but was denied by SJC freshman defender Kayla Royer (Greene, Maine), who blocked Fay's shot to record the first defensive save of her career.
Freshman Brenna Fitzgibbon (Exeter, N.H.) would duplicate Royer's effort about eight minutes later when she stopped a Cronin shot from crossing the goal line at the 53:49 mark for her first career defensive save.
Senior keeper Taylor Allison (Pawtucket, R.I.) notched her third shutout of the year after making one stop for the hosts while Simmons netminder Renna Smith (Belfast, Maine) played very well with eight saves in a losing effort.
Overall, Saint Joseph's held sizeable advantages in both shots (13-4) and corners (16-6) in the conference victory. The shutout effort was the Monks' fourth in five games this season and 53rd in the history of the SJC field hockey program.
With the win, St. Joe's improves to 12-6 in the history of the series with Simmons College and has now defeated the Sharks in eight consecutive meetings dating back to the 2006 season. The shutout victory was the Monks' fifth over Simmons.
Saint Joseph's will host University of Southern Maine on Wednesday at 3:30 PM, while Simmons hosts Salve Regina University on Tuesday at 7:00 PM.
Saint Joseph's College, founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy, celebrates its Centennial year in 2012 with a theme of "Realize the Promise" – honoring our commitment to educating well-rounded graduates who combine career focus with classic liberal arts studies. A Private, Catholic, primarily residential, coeducational liberal arts institution, Saint Joseph's welcomes students of all ages and all faiths. The campus, located 18 miles northwest of Portland and just two hours from Boston, encompasses 350 acres along the shore of beautiful Sebago Lake in Standish, Maine. Enrollment ranges between 1,000 and 1,100 students annually. Saint Joseph's offers challenging academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education, nursing and business fields in a value-centered environment.
