Junior Kathryn Nelson notched her first career hat trick to lead the Skyhawks past Saint Anselm this afternoon. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Nelson hat trick leads Skyhawks to bounce back win

EASTON, Mass. (September 25, 2010) – Junior forward Kathryn Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) netted her first career hat trick to lead Stonehill College, ranked 9^th in this week's Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, to a 4-0 victory over Saint Anselm College in non-conference field hockey action at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.

Nelson's three goals give her a team-best nine for the year and her two first half goals ran her streak of goals scored for Stonehill to six-straight dating back to a Lauren Gifford (Goffstown, N.H./Goffstown) tally against Merrimack College on September 11. Senior Lindsey Pinkham (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan) also scored a goal for the Skyhawks, while freshman Devin Ingersoll (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) dished her fourth assist of the year.

Senior Courtney Osier (South Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) made two second half saves to preserve her second shutout of the season (13^th career) for Stonehill. The Skyhawks finished with a 26-3 advantage in shots for the contest, including a 12-0 edge in the first half, and posted a 15-5 break in penalty corners. Sophomore Lindsay MacDonald (Dedham, Mass./Dedham) finished with ten saves on the afternoon for Saint Anselm, including eight in the second half. Senior back Bradi True (Windham, Maine/Catherine McAuley) registered a pair of defensive saves for the Hawks.           

Senior Courtney Osier made two second half saves to preserve her 13th career shutout. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Nelson opened the scoring for Stonehill, which scored twice in each half, with 11:44 remaining in the opening stanza when she knocked in a loose ball off True's clear off the line from a shot by Skyhawks sophomore Brittany Ford (Augusta, Maine/Cony). Nelson doubled the Skyhawks lead 3:01 before the break when she pounced on a loose ball on the right side and slotted a shot past MacDonald.

Saint Anselm applied some early pressure in the opening seven minutes of the second half, getting all three of its shots in the afternoon and a pair of penalty corners, in an attempt to make a comeback, but Osier made two stops to keep the Hawks at bay. Pinkham scored her third goal of the season when she one-timed a low pass across the goal mouth by Ingersoll at the far left post 9:54 into the second frame. The goal game just over a minute after MacDonald made two diving saves on point blank Stonehill attempts by Nelson and Ingersoll.

Nelson rounded out the scoring and her hat trick with 16:57 to play in regulation when she knocked in a rebound from the first side after a shot from the top of the arc by senior Courtney Foley (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial) off a corner.

Stonehill (4-4, 0-0 NE-10) is back in action on Tuesday night when it opens defense of its Northeast-10 regular season championship against Southern Connecticut State University at W.B. Mason Stadium at 7 p.m. Saint Anselm (0-5, 0-0 NE-10) hosts Southern Connecticut State next Saturday for an NE-10 matchup at 2 p.m.