The Simmons College soccer squad turned in a solid year in the revamped Great Northeast Athletic conference, that included an 8-9-2 overall record, and a 7-4-2 GNAC record that was good for sixth place in the conference, and a berth in the postseason tournament.
The Sharks picked up their first win of the season with a big out of region win over DeSales 3-0.
Once they got into conference play they strung wins together against Mt. Ida, and Pine Manor. After a heartbreaking stretch in the middle that saw two overtime losses, they regrouped to win three of their last four including a dominating 4-1 effort against Lasell.
First year forward Allie Megna (North Hampton, N.H.) was the top scorer for the Sharks. She was among the top 10 in the GNAC, with five goals and a conference leading 11 assists, including a school record four assists against Emerson.
Another first year player, Brooke MacKenzie (Mansfield, Mass.) was second on the team in scoring with 18 points. She was a first team all-conference selection as a midfielder, and potted seven goals this year, including three off of free kicks.
Third on the team in scoring was senior tri-captain Sarah Daniel (Rochester, Mass.), in addition to her 17 points this season she was named an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection.
Senior Andrea Caldwell (Braintree, Mass.) was a tireless player this season playing every minute of every game but one, while collecting five goals and four assists and earning first team all-conference honors.
Sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Elliott (Amherst, N.H.) was among the top 10 in the conference in saves per game, and was a vocal leader in the back as the last line of defense.
Next year the Sharks are faced with the loss of some key seniors, and will field a group of 10 sophomores and six juniors, with only one senior.
MacKenzie will return as a first team all-conference player, as well as a strong core who saw action this season in the hopes of contending for a league title and another postseason conference berth.
As for this season, head coach Erica Mastrogiacomo was pleased with the results.
"It is always better to improve and that is what we did. We increased our number of conference wins and finished a notch above last year. Every coach wants to win the championship game, however, for such a young team including 12 new players and only 4 seniors I knew this would be a rebuilding year. I am excited to see that some of our first years have impacted our program already and I am looking forward to seeing what they can do with a year of experience behind them."
