Freshman Lindsey Pinkham will face the Falcons for the first time on Thursday night.

North Easton, Mass. - With 10 Northeast-10 field hockey contests in the books, a three-way tie exists atop the standings with Stonehill, Bentley and UMass-Lowell all sitting at 9-1 in Conference play. The picture could become a lot clearer after Thursday when the No. 3 Skyhawks visit the No. 7 Falcons in a much-anticipated game under the lights in Waltham beginning at 7 p.m.

In the last three seasons, Bentley holds a 5-4 edge and has out scored Stonehill 14-10 in those games, but the Skyhawks enter the game as the NE-10's third-highest scoring team, averaging 2.55 goals per game.

Stonehill has won four in a row after dropping its only game of the season to Bryant on September 15. All four of those games have been one goal victories, highlighted by back-to-back overtime wins last week.

The matchup will feature two of the best netminders in the country in Stonehill's Dani Ryder (Gloucester, Mass.) and the Falcons' Alyssa Sliney.

Ryder, who ranks third in the nation with a 1.13 goals against average, has recorded four shutouts this season, including in her last outing, a 1-0 win over St. Michael's, where she turned away 13 shots. Sliney, meanwhile, has a shutout streak of 232:23 and posted two blankings last week and sits second in the country with a 1.00 goals against average.

Offensively, the Skyhawks have the nation's fourth leading goal scorer in Aly Boulis (Lincoln, R.I.) and two of the NE-10's leaders in assists in senior Caitlin Gleason (New Boston, N.H.) and sophomore Jackie Ladino (North Dartmouth, Mass.).

This will be the first meeting between the two schools since Bentley ended Stonehill's season with a 3-1 win in the NCAA Quarterfinals last year.