NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (February 22, 2025) – The Stonehill College women's lacrosse team notched their first victory of the season, defeating Merrimack by a score of 13-11 on Saturday afternoon at Duane Stadium in North Andover, Massachusetts. With the win, the Skyhawks moved to 1-2 on the season, while the Warriors fell to 0-3.
 
Highlights

• Junior Grace Murphy (Kearsarge, N.H.) led the Skyhawks' offense, netting four goals and two assists, putting her totals at 11 and four on the season respectively.
• Juniors Gabriella Parisi (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) and Emily LaPia (Exeter, N.H.), as well as sophomore Cameron Flaherty (Weymouth, Mass.) each contributed two goals for the Skyhawks
• Natalie Coutu (Brookline, N.H.) and Caroline Leone (Londonderry, N.H.) both scored one goal
• First-year student Caitlin Ruggeiro (Sloatsburg, N.Y.) scored the first goal of her collegiate career.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Nina Tremonte (Brookfield, Conn.) earned her first career win, recording 10 saves in net for the Skyhawks
• Sophomore Kaitlin Roche propelled the Warrior offense, scoring a career-high five goals.

How it Happened
After Merrimack opened the scoring just over a minute in, the Skyhawks scored three straight goals. Coutu opened the scoring for Stonehill, followed by LaPia and Murphy to give the Skyhawks a 3-1 advantage with 4:21 to go in the first. Merrimack responded with three straight goals of their own, taking a 4-3 lead after one.  
 
Stonehill opened the second quarter with two quick goals from Parisi to give the Skyhawks the lead back. Merrimack quickly tied it back up at five, before three straight Stonehill goals saw the Skyhawk lead extend to 8-5. The Warriors scored two goals in the final 1:30 of the half, to cut the deficit to 8-7, where we remained at the half.
 
In the second half, Murphy netted her hat trick on a free position shot to open the scoring in the third quarter. Ruggeiro scored her first collegiate goal a minute later to push the Stonehill lead to 10-7. The Skyhawks netted two goals in the final 1:35 to take a 13-8 lead into the final frame.
 
Stonehill was held scoreless over the final 15 minutes, as Merrimack scored three times to try and come back. However, the defense held off the Warriors rally, and the Skyhawks collected their first win of the season.
Up Next
Stonehill (1-2, 0-0 NEC) returns to action on Saturday with the first home game of the season, a non-conference matchup against Queens University (N.C.). Opening draw control between the Skyhawks and Royals from W.B Mason Stadium is set for noon.
 
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