BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Sophomore forward Sydney Gonyea (Lebanon, N.H.) notched a hat trick to lead the visiting Simmons University field hockey team to a 5-0 shutout victory over Bridgewater State University on Wednesday night at rainy Swenson Field. The game marked the 2022 home opener for Bridgewater State.

The Sharks improve to 3-0 on the young season, while the Bears fall to 0-2. Simmons is now 6-5-1 all-time versus Bridgewater State as the two teams were meeting for the first time since 2001.

Graduate forward Riley Lambert (Virginia Beach, Va.) potted her fourth goal of the season to get the Sharks on the board in the first quarter. Lambert scored off the rebound of a Gonyea shot to give the visitors the early 1-0 lead.

Simmons extended the lead to 2-0 with 6:32 remaining in the second period. After redirecting a Lambert shot off the post, Gonyea corralled her own rebound and buried a shot into the back of the net.

Senior midfielder Maddie Beckwith (Winslow, Maine) converted off a penalty corner with 2:32 showing on the third quarter scoreboard to make it a 3-0 game. Freshman defender Zoe Schmaling (Standish, Maine) assisted on Beckwith's first marker of the season.

Gonyea tallied twice in the fourth quarter to complete the hat trick. Gonyea converted off a short feed from sophomore forward Anna Tedeschi (Hanover, Mass.) just over three minutes into the period and then scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season, an unassisted tally, just 37 seconds later.

Simmons finished with a decided 35-3 shot advantage for the game as well as an 18-1 edge in penalty corner attempts.

Freshman goalkeeper Ashley Hamelin (Whitinsville, Mass.) was very busy between the pipes for the Bears as she recorded a season-high 15 saves. Simmons senior netminder Sarah Arenberg (South Berwick, Maine) turned aside two shots to post her second win and first shutout of the season.

The Bears are off until next Wednesday afternoon when they travel to Johnson & Wales University for a four o'clock game with the Wildcats. The Sharks open Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday morning (11:00 AM) at home against Anna Maria College.