Hughes posted her first career ten-point game and scored a career-best six goals (PHOTO BY Brian Foley)

Hughes' first career ten-point game, including career-high eight goals, leads Skyhawks in NEC debut

TEANECK, N.J. (March 18, 2023) – Stonehill College earned the first NCAA Division I win in the program's history with a commanding 22-7 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the Skyhawks Northeast Conference debut in women's lacrosse action at University Stadium this afternoon. 

Highlights

• Junior Molly Mae Hughes posted the first ten-point game of her career as she scored a career-high six goals and dished out a season-high four assists to lead Stonehill.
• Senior Kayla Conway scored a career-high matching six goals for Stonehill, while classmate and All-American Lydia Rudden dished out a season-high five assists to go with two goals for seven points.
• Freshman Grace Murphy added a season-high three goals and two assists for a season-best five points, while postgrad All-American Emma Sullivan chipped in two goals and an assist with four draw controls.
• Freshman Brielle McInaw scored a team-high three goals for FDU with two draw controls, while classmate Alyssa Perez added two goals.
• Junior Claire Smith registered two saves in notching her second collegiate win over 30-minutes in goal for Stonehill, before sophomore Sarah Faley finished with three stops in the second half.
• Freshman Jewel Horsman made six stops in 47:34 in the FDU goal.

Conway matched her career-best with six goals this afternoon (PHOTO BY Brian Foley)

How it Happened

• Stonehill scored four of the game's first five goals over the opening eight minutes of the game, getting goals from four different players and Rudden assisting on three of them.
• FDU pulled even with three-straight goals, the last two from Perez, with 2:40 remaining in the first quarter.
• Stonehill capped the first frame with three-straight goals, including two by Conway, to restore a three-goal lead heading to the second quarter, where the Skyhawks scored the first two goals to grab a five goal cushion (9-4) after Conway's fourth of the game with 8:53 remaining in the half.
• Stonehill maintained that five goal lead into halftime (11-6) and then scored all nine goals of the third quarter to take control of its first win at the NCAA Division I level.
• Conway and Sullivan each delivered woman-down goals during the third quarter run, while Hughes totaled three goals and an assist in the quarter alone.
• Stonehill carried a 14-goal lead (20-6) into the final 15-minutes and extended its run to 12 goals to seal it as Hughes capped her scoring on the day two minutes into the fourth quarter and Murphy set up freshman Natalie Coutu's first collegiate goal with 6:17 to play.

Noteworthy

• Hughes' scoring outburst is her first multi-point goal of the season and doubled her previous career-high for scoring.
• Rudden has multiple assists in her fourth-straight game.
• Sullivan has multiple goals for the fifth time this season.
• Coutu added an assist to her first collegiate goal for Stonehill, while freshman Gabriella Parisi also scored her first collegiate goal.
• Stonehill earns its first Division I win in its NEC opener after having picked to finish sixth in the Conference's preseason coaches' poll.

Up Next

Stonehill (1-5, 1-0 NEC) returns to action next Saturday, when it hosts Wagner College for their NEC home opener at W.B. Mason Stadium at 1 p.m. FDU (0-6, 0-1 NEC) hosts Howard University next Saturday at noon.

For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.