STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph’s (7-0-1, 4-0 GNAC) remained undefeated with an 18-13 victory over conference-rival Simmons College (3-4, 1-3 GNAC) at Westerlea Way Field on Wednesday afternoon. Senior midfielder Lauren Hagerman (Scarborough, ME) paced the Monks with four goals and three assists in the triumph.

Alyssa Marchant ’11 (Wakefield, MA) added four goals, while Megan Cutter ’12 (Westbrook, ME) and Amelia Santos ’12 (Beverly, MA) both tallied two goals and two assists for the Monks. Erika Waterhouse ’13 (South Portland, ME), Lizzie Farley ’11 (Scarborough, ME) and Vanessa Brooks ’10 (Bath, ME) all chipped in with two goals apiece and SJC netminder Taylor Allison ’12 (Pawtucket, RI) made 13 saves in goal.

For the Sharks, Meaghan Maurice ’12 (Portland, ME/Deering), Natalie Stever ’11 (Chagrin Falls, OH), Mikaela McSherry ’12 (Worcester, MA) and Justine Beauchamp ’13 (Exeter, NH) all scored twice and Lee Sutherland ’12 (Tuftonboro, NH) chipped in with two assists. Simmons keeper Kelly Last ’13 (West Haven, CT), who was named GNAC Goalkeeper of the Week on Monday, registered 13 saves in the losing effort.

It was all St. Joe’s in the early going, as the Monks jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first 12 minutes of play. Hagerman scored three times in the first seven minutes and played a hand in seven of her team’s first 10 goals, scoring four and assisting on three others. Although the game looked to be one-sided after the first 15 minutes, the feisty Sharks refused to go away easily and utilized scoring bursts near the end of both halves to remain within striking distance.

Leading 9-1 after Farley scored back to back markers with 15:25 remaining in the first half, St. Joe’s saw it’s cushion dwindle to four goals after Simmons scored four unanswered goals in a nine-minute span. Stever ignited the surge with a pair of goals and Beauchamp added a man-up tally during the run.

Brooks netted her second goal with 2:08 left in the opening half to break up the Sharks’ scoring frenzy, but Zoie Kaley ’13 (Manchester, ME) and Maurice beat Taylor 40 seconds apart to make it a three-goal game, 10-7. The Monks regained momentum heading into the break, as the Royal Blue scored twice in the final 11 seconds off the half, with goals by Santos and Marchant, to cap the first half with a 12-7 lead.

Beauchamp scored a free-position goal 3:59 into the second half to cut the Sharks’ deficit to 12-8, but Saint Joseph’s rattled off five straight, with two from Waterhouse, in the next seven minutes to gain some much-needed breathing room.

Trailing 17-8 with 19:52 left, the Sharks systematically chipped away at the SJC lead and managed to score five straight, with the last marker by Maurice at the 1:52 mark making it a 17-13 game. The Monks were able to keep the Sharks off the board for the remainder of the game and Marchant scored off a Waterhouse pass with 25 seconds left to make the final score 18-13, Saint Joseph’s.

Hagerman added seven draw controls and five groundballs, both game-highs, to her stat line and Waterhouse collected four groundballs in the victory.

St. Joe’s held an advantage in shots (37-36), groundballs (33-20) and clears (23-12) while Simmons held an 18-14 edge in draw controls in the conference contest.

Saint Joseph’s will face off against GNAC rival Lasell College in Newton, MA on Friday at 4:00 PM while Simmons is set to host Emerson on Saturday at 11:00 AM.