#8 Stonehill Drops #5 Bentley, 4-1

Ladino and Nelson score twice to lead Skyhawks to first win of season

Boxscore 

WALTHAM, Mass. (September 2, 2009) - Stonehill College, ranked eighth in the Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II preseason poll, picked up its first victory of the season with a 4-1 triumph at 5^th-ranked Bentley University in a non-conference field hockey matchup tonight.

Senior All-American Jackie Ladino (North Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) led Stonehill with two goals and an assist, while sophomore Kathryn Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) added a pair of goals. The two goals for Ladino give her 22 for her career to move into a tie for eighth on the program's all-time list, while her 75 career points slide her ahead of classmate Claire Hourihan (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville North) for fourth all-time. 

Junior Courtney Osier made nine saves in the Skyhawks goal.

Senior Mary Abraham (Weston, Mass./Weston) scored the lone goal for Bentley when she knocked in a rebound to spoil the Stonehill shutout with 1:02 to play.

Junior Courtney Osier (South Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) made nine saves in goal for Stonehill, while senior Alyssa Sliney (Brewster, Mass./Nauset Regional) finished with four stops for Bentley.

Ladino put Stonehill on the board with 8:20 to play with an unassisted score. She doubled the Skyhawks lead 4:28 into the second half when she took a feed from junior Courtney Foley (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial), and netted her 22^nd career goal. Nelson increased the Skyhawks lead at the 60:49 mark with her first goal of the season and then added another, assisted by Ladino, less than three minutes later for her first career multi-goal game to round out the Stonehill scoring.

The win caps a string of three-straight road games for Stonehill to open the season against nationally-ranked opposition. The Skyhawks (1-2, 0-0 NE-10) are back in action on Saturday for their first home game of the season when it hosts Franklin Pierce University for a non-conference contest at 1 p.m. Bentley (1-2, 0-0 NE-10) visits Adelphi University on Saturday at 1 p.m.