Senior Claire Hourihan provided a goal and assist in
tonight's key NE-10 win at #5 UMass Lowell.
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#4 Stonehill Tops #5 UMass Lowell,
3-1
Hourihan collects goal and
assist as Skyhawks take giant step towards NE-10 title
LOWELL, Mass. (October 13,
2009) - Stonehill College, ranked fourth in this week's
Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA)
Division II poll, gained the advantage in the race for the 2009
Northeast-10 Conference regular season title and top-seed in the
upcoming NE-10 Tournament with a 3-1 victory over No. 5 University
of Massachusetts Lowell in NE-10 field hockey action at Cushing
Field tonight.
Stonehill now sits a half game
ahead of 8th-ranked Bentley University (11-3, 5-1 NE-10)
atop the NE-10 standings with three NE-10 games to play and a full
game ahead of Adelphi University (9-5, 4-1 NE-10), Merrimack
College (10-6, 5-2 NE-10) and UMass Lowell (12-3, 4-2 NE-10).
However, Stonehill holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with Bentley,
Adelphi and UML for the top-seed in the upcoming NE-10 Tournament
while playing Merrimack next week at home.
Senior forward Claire
Hourihan (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville North) led
Stonehill with a goal and assist, marking the eighth-straight game
she has scored a goal. Hourihan's 17 goals this season are just
three shy of her own single-season program record of 20 set last
season, while her 46 career markers are seven shy of Caitlin
Gleason's record of 53 set from 2004-07.
The Skyhawks also got goals from
senior All-American Jackie Ladino (North Dartmouth,
Mass./Dartmouth) and sophomore Kathryn Nelson
(Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) as they outshot UMass
Lowell 11-3. Ladino's goal gives her 92 career points, just eight
shy of becoming just the third player in program history with 100
career points - joining Hourihan who reached the milestone this
season.
Senior All-American Jackie Ladino's tenth goal of the
season proved to be the game-winner tonight in Lowell.
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Junior Sammy Macy
(Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury) maintained her two-goal
cushion in the NE-10's scoring race over Hourihan with the lone
UMass Lowell goal on the night. Junior Amy Carbon
(Bellingham, Mass./Bellingham) made five saves in goal for
the River Hawks, while junior Courtney Osier (South Dennis,
Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) didn't register a save in the cage
for Stonehill.
Hourihan gave Stonehill the
advantage just 8:13 into the contest when she took a pass from
junior Lindsay Pinkham (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan
Area) off a rebound and knocked the ball past Carbon.
Ladino doubled the Skyhawks lead 10:15 into the second half when
she converted a rebound for her tenth goal of the year.
Macy put UMass Lowell on the board
and drew the River Hawks within one at the 54:46 mark off a feed
from senior Kayla LeSage (Amesbury,
Mass./Amesbury) and netted her 19th goal of the
season. Stonehill regained the two-goal edge 3:09 later on a
penalty corner when Nelson scored her seventh of the year off a
pass from Hourihan from junior Courtney Foley (Wakefield,
R.I./Wakefield Memorial). Foley tallied four points (goal,
2 assists) over two games against the River Hawks this season.
Stonehill (12-3, 6-1 NE-10),
winners of 12 of its last 13, returns to action on Thursday when it
hosts Assumption College at W.B. Mason Stadium at 4 p.m. UMass
Lowell (12-3, 4-2 NE-10) visits Saint Anselm College on Thursday at
4 p.m.