STONEHILL FIELD HOCKEY
2005 NCAA Division II North Region National Quarterfinals
Saturday, November 5, 2005
W.B. Mason Stadium, Easton, Mass.
FINAL:STONEHILL 1, BENTLEY 0
12Total
Bentley (16-6)00- 0
Stonehill (19-2)01- 1
SCORING SUMMARY
STO:Aly Boulis (Kerri Sullivan)56:57 2nd
GOALIE SAVES
BEN:Kristin Johnson3
STO:Dani Ryder3
EASTON, Mass.-- Sophomore Aly Bouliss (Lincoln, R.I.) goal with just over 13 minutes remaining lifted second-seeded Stonehill to a 1-0 victory over third-seeded Bentley in North Region national quarterfinal round play of the 2005 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships Saturday afternoon at W.B. Mason Stadium.
The host Skyhawks (19-2) advance to square off with top-seeded UMass Lowell (18-3) in the 2005 NCAA Division II national semi-finals next Friday afternoon at Shippensburg Universitys Robb Sports Complex in Shippensburg, Pa. beginning at 2:00 p.m. Fridays South Region national semi-final will pit top-seeded Shippensburg (20-2) against second-seeded and defending national champion Bloomsburg (18-4) at 5:00 p.m., as Bloomsburg advanced with a 2-1 overtime victory over third-seeded Indiana (Pa.).
Boulis, who was the Most Valuable Player in netting the game-winner in overtime in Stonehills 2-1 victory over UMass Lowell in the Northeast-10 Conference championship match, continued her heroics by converting a pass from freshman Kerri Sullivan (Goffstown, N.H.) for her 11th goal of the season that enabled the Skyhawks to advance in their first-ever NCAA appearance and extend their school-record winning streak to 15 straight (dating back to September 14th). Sophomore Dani Ryder (Gloucester, Mass.) made that stand up in goal for Stonehill by making three saves in net, including a point-blank save with 36 seconds remaining in the contest, to pick up her 19th win of the season and her 10th shutout.
The fourth meeting of the season between the two teams saw the visiting Falcons, who finish the season at 16-6 overall, take an apparent first half lead, but the goal was waved off due to a foot infraction in the circle. Stonehill outshot Bentley by a 5-2 margin in the opening 35 minutes of action, but the Falcons registered six corners in the opening half. The Skyhawks held Bentley to just one shot on goal in the second half to complete a four-match sweep of the Falcons for the season and third via shutout, as Stonehill posted a pair of 2-0 and 2-1 regular season victories and notched a similar 1-0 triumph last Saturday in the Northeast-10 semi-finals before recording todays NCAA victory.
Senior Kristin Johnson (Reading, Mass.) made three saves in her final collegiate contest for Bentley, as Stonehill outshot the Falcons by a 9-3 margin for the contest, including by a 4-1 count in the second half alone. The Skyhawks kept Bentley from advancing to the NCAA national semi-finals for the first time since 1998.
Fridays match-up between Stonehill and UMass Lowell, the Northeast-10 regular season champion, will be the third meeting of the season between the two teams, as the River Hawks were the last team to best the Skyhawks, as UMass Lowell posted a 3-2 victory over Stonehill back on September 14th in Lowell, Mass. The Skyhawks avenged that setback with a 2-1 overtime win over the River Hawks in last Sundays Northeast-10 championship match on Bouliss extra session goal.
The two national semi-final winners advance to play in the 2005 NCAA Division II National Championship match on Sunday, November 13th at Shippensburgs Robb Sports Complex beginning at 1:00 p.m.
SKYHAWK TALK: Field Hockey becomes the third NCAA team sport to advance to a national semi-final round, joining womens basketball (1995) and womens lacrosse (2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005)Stonehill has now won five of the last eight match-ups with Bentley dating back to October 2003 after winning just one of the first 15 contests between the two schools since the programs varsity inception in 1996Saturdays win was the 80th career triumph for Stonehill Head Coach Pam ArpeThe Skyhawks finished the season ranked fourth nationally in the final STX/NFHCA Division II poll. UMass Lowell finished just ahead of Stonehill in the final rankings.