BOSTON, Mass. – After a historic win on Thursday afternoon, the Mount Ida field hockey team turned to their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game of the year, and ran into a difficult opponent in Simmons College, falling to the Sharks 8-0 on Saturday afternoon at Winsor Field.

Senior goalie Brenna Santos (East Falmouth, Mass.) made nine saves for the Mustangs, but Simmons owned a 23-3 shot advantage and dominated chances at the penalty corner by a count of 18-3.

Now, after opening their season with four games on the road, Mount Ida will finally get to play their first ever field hockey game in Newton. The Mustangs will host Wheelock College on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm at Alumni Field.

Simmons junior midfielder Amy Cronin (Georgetown, Mass.) and senior forward Kelly Williamson (Natick, Mass.) each tallied a pair of goals and combined to assist on three others on Saturday.

Cronin found Williamson with the game's first score at 9:42 of the first half for a 1-0 Simmons' edge. Williamson's second tally of the day and fourth of the season came at the 26:49 mark on a feed from sophomore forwardJillian Mercer (Dartmouth, Mass.), which increased the Sharks' lead to 4-0.

Cronin assisted on the last goal of the first half when she crossed to sophomore Mary Neidhardt (Middlefield, Conn.) for the forward's first goal of the season with just 3:16 left in the period. Both of Cronin's markers came in the second half. She registered her first goal of the year on a penalty stroke at 61:02 and found the back of the cage again just 4:37 later.  Sophomore forward Madeline Koufos (Needham, Mass.) sent the entry pass to Cronin on a penalty corner for a blast from the top of the circle that beat the Mount Ida keeper at 65:39 for a 7-0 advantage. Williamson set up first year Julie Saltamartini (East Hampstead, N.H.) for a hard shot in front of the cage that resulted in the forward's fourth goal of the year with just 70 seconds to go in the contest. 

Saltamartini scored earlier in the match to give the home team a 2-0 lead when sophomore midfielder Robin Powell (Richmond, Vt.) sent a cross to the right slot, where Saltamartini flicked a quick shot into the back of the cage at 11:35. First year forward Samantha Rondeau (Franklin, Mass.) added to the Sharks' count when she scored from the right slot as well on a feed from Mercer at the 23:37 mark of the opening stanza to make it 3-0.   

Simmons sophomore keeper Brianna Rastello (Salem, N.H.) turned away three shots in the first 54:58 of action, before classmate Hope McDonald (Hingham, Mass.) went untested in the final 15:02 to combine for the Simmons shutout.

The Sharks will be in action again on Saturday, September 20 when they travel to Paxton, Mass. to take on Anna Maria College in GNAC action at 12:00 p.m.