2005 Stonehill College Field Hockey
2005 Northeast-10 Conference Championship
Game #20: #6 Stonehill (17-2) at #3 UMass Lowell (18-2)
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Cushing Field, Lowell, Massachusetts
1:00 p.m. EST
BATTLE OF THE BIRDS: Stonehill seeks its first-ever Northeast-10 Conference tournament title this afternoon as the sixth-ranked and second-seeded Skyhawks square off with the third-ranked and top-seeded UMass Lowell River Hawks in the championship match of the 2005 league playoffs. Stonehill advanced to the championship round with a 1-0 semi-final round triumph over seventh-ranked and third-seeded Bentley yesterday afternoon here at Cushing Field, as sophomore Caitlin Gleasons (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) 12th goal of the season on a feed from junior All-America Kelly Latendresse (Sidney, Maine/Messalonskee) 6:30 into the second half proved to be the game-winner for the Skyhawks. Sophomore Dani Ryder (Gloucester, Mass./Tantasqua) made four saves to pick up her 17th win and ninth shutout of the season in goal for Stonehill, which posted its third victory of the season over the rival Falcons and second by shutout. UMass Lowell advanced to its third straight appearance in the Northeast-10 championship match with a 5-2 victory over eighth-ranked and fourth-seeded Southern Connecticut in yesterdays other semi-final round match here at Cushing Field.
SOMETHINGS GOTTA GIVE: Someones school-record winning streak will come to an end in todays championship match, as Stonehill carries a 13-match winning skein into todays action while UMass Lowell enters with a 16-match winning streak. The Skyhawks last setback came at the hands of the River Hawks back on September 14th here at Cushing Field.
LAST MEETING: Stonehill and UMass Lowell last met back on September 14th here at Cushing Field, and the River Hawks overcame a 2-1 halftime deficit to post a 3-2 victory over the Skyhawks. Caitlin Gleason notched a goal and an assist in the setback for Stonehill, which also received a goal from Kelly Latendresse and an assist off the stick of senior co-captain Julie Michalos (Norwood, Mass./Norwood), but UMass Lowell scored two goals in the first 7:18 of the second half to post its triumph. Dani Ryder made three saves in 63-plus minutes of action in goal for the Skyhawks in that setback.
UMass Lowell 3, Stonehill 2
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Cushing Field, Lowell, Massachusetts
12Total
Stonehill (4-2, 3-2 Northeast-10)20- 2
UMass Lowell (4-2, 3-1 Northeast-10)12- 3
SCORING SUMMARY
STO:Caitlin Gleason (Julie Michalos)8:03 1st
UML:Courtney Hill (Sara Hohenberger)11:14 1st
STO:Kelly Latendresse (Gleason)32:53 1st
UML:Hill (Unassisted)36:34 2nd
UML:Taylor Kloss (Hill)42:18 2nd
GOALIE SAVES
STO:Dani Ryder3, Sara Piper1
UML:Nicole Staiti6
THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Todays match marks the 13th meeting between Stonehill and UMass Lowell, and the two teams have split their previous 12 match-ups with six wins apiece. The River Hawks have won the last three meetings in the series dating back to September 2004 after the Skyhawks had won five straight in the series from October 2000 through October 2003. Todays contest marks the first ever match-up between the two schools in post-season play.
STONEHILL IN POST-SEASON PLAY: Todays match will be Stonehills 13th in post-season play since the programs inception in 1996, and the Skyhawks have notched a 3-9 mark in their previous 12 post-season contests. Stonehills first-ever post-season win came with a 2-1 overtime triumph over Franklin Pierce in the 2001 Northeast-10 quarterfinals, and the Skyhawks collected a 1-0 win over LIU-C.W. Post in the 2002 ECAC semi-finals before falling to East Stroudsburg in overtime in the championship match. Yesterdays 1-0 triumph over Bentley in the conference semi-finals accounts for the third Skyhawk post-season victory.
THE SKYHAWKS: Gleason leads Stonehill in scoring with 12 goals and six assists for 30 points, while Latendresse has added nine goals and 11 assists for 29 points. Sophomore Aly Boulis (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln) follows with nine goals and five assists for 23 points, while Michalos has notched seven goals and five assists for 19 points. Ryder has recorded a school-record 17 wins in goal for Stonehill with a league-leading 0.82 goals against average, as she has made 60 saves for a .800 saves percentage to go with nine shutouts.
THE RIVER HAWKS: Junior Sara Hohenberger leads UMass Lowell in scoring with 23 goals and 12 assists for 58 points, while senior Courtney Hill follows with 10 goals and 13 assists for 33 points. Senior Joanna DaLuze, the 2005 Northeast-10 Co-Player of the Year, follows with seven goals and six assists for 20 points, while senior Taylor Kloss has nine goals for 18 points. Junior Nicole Staiti is 18-2 in goal for the River Hawks with a 1.10 goals against average, having made 57 saves for a .722 saves percentage.
HEAD COACH PAM ARPE: Pam Arpe is in her sixth season as Head Field Hockey Coach at Stonehill College. A 1972 graduate of Principia (Ill.), Arpe ranks as the winningest coach in school history and has guided the the Skyhawks to an overall mark of 78-42 (.650) during her tenure, picking up her 75th career victory on October 18th in a 7-3 triumph over Bryant. Arpe, who is assisted by her daughter Amanda (William Smith 03), is 5-3 during her career against UMass Lowell.
HEAD COACH SHANNON HLEBICHUK: Shannon Hlebichuk is in her fourth season as Head Field Hockey Coach at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. A 1998 UMass Lowell graduate, Hlebichuk has guided her alma mater to an overall mark of 61-21 (.743) during her tenure with back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament, and she is assisted by Erin Stewart, Kerry Dudley and Leigh Shea. Hlebichuk is 3-3 during her career against Stonehill.
THE DEFENSE NEVER RESTS: Stonehill led the Northeast-10 with the fewest amount of goals allowed during the regular season. The Skyhawks enter todays championship match with more victories (17) than goals allowed (15). Stonehill also netted the most goals in the conference this year with a school-record 64 tallies in 19 matches.
SKYHAWK TALK: Stonehill is looking to win a Northeast-10 title in its 10th team sport today. Skyhawk teams have claimed conference championships in the sports of mens & womens cross country, mens & womens soccer, mens & womens basketball, baseball, womens lacrosse and womens tennisAfter dropping the first 10 meetings between the two teams, Stonehill has won four of its last seven match-ups with BentleyGleason now leads the Skyhawks with four game-winning goals this seasonStonehills October 6th win at Bentley snapped the Falcons 17-match regular season winning streak that dated back to September 2004The Skyhawks were a perfect 8-0 on their home surface at newly built W.B. Mason StadiumThree Stonehill players have been honored as Northeast-10 Player of the Week in three of the last four weeks: Kelly Latendresse, Caitlin Gleason and Colleen McLaughlinDani Ryder has been named as the Northeast-10 Goalkeeper of the Week on four occasions during the season. Yesterdays triumph was her 30th career victory and 18th via shutoutThe Skyhawks have been ranked in the STX/NFHCA Division II national poll in 39 of the last 45 weeks dating back to 2001Michalos and Latendresse each earned spots on the 2005 Northeast-10 Field Hockey Academic All-Conference squad, as Michalos was honored for a second straight season with the selectionFreshman Kerri Sullivan (Goffstown, N.H.) becomes the third Skyhawk to earn Northeast-10 Freshman of the Year accolades, joining Erica Marois (2001) and Cindy Pultz (2000).
WHOS NEXT: Stonehill will await word of selection into the 2005 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships, as complete tournament information will be announced by the NCAA national office at 5:00 p.m. EST on Monday, October 31st. National quarterfinal round play is set for Saturday, November 5th, while the national semi-finals and championship will be contested during the weekend of November 11th.