Skyhawks Fall In OT In NE-10 Quarters
North Easton, Mass. - In the end, a game between these two teams was destined to be a one-goal affair. Unfortunately for Stonehill, they came up on the short end, dropping a 2-1 overtime showdown with visiting St. Michael's at W.B. Mason Stadium on Wednesday afternoon in the 2007 Northeast-10 Tournament quarterfinals.
In the previous two meetings this season, both wins by Stonehill, the games were decided by a goal, including a 1-0 overtime outcome at the end of September.
After St. Michael's controlled the ball for the first four minutes of the game, Stonehill slowly gained the momentum, culminating in Claire Hourihan (East Amherst, N.Y.) getting a shot past Purple Knight netminder Jordan Smalling with help from Ashley Freeman (White River Junction, Vt.).
St. Michael's evened the score at 1-1 on a penalty stroke goal from Molly DiMasi. Trisha McCormick fired a shot that hit the post but Dani Ryder (Gloucester, Mass.) laid on the ball after trying to locate it, forcing the call.
The game remained tied but each team had several opportunities. Caitlin Gleason (New Boston, N.H.) looked like she was going to put the Skyhawks ahead but Smalling made one of her 10 saves, this one a stick save at the 40:40 mark.
DiMasi had a chance for the Purple Knights but her attempt at the 52:10 mark sailed wide. Chelsea Kimball had a great look but fanned on a pass from Andrea Slaven with 12 minutes remaining in regulation.
Stonehill seemed poised to end the game three minutes into overtime when Jackie Ladino (North Dartmouth, Mass.) was one-on-one with Smalling, but she was able to smother back to back shots allowing help to arrive.
Kimball and Slaven finally connected at the 79:34 mark as Slaven took a feed from Kimball and got past Ryder before firing a rolling shot for her 20th goal of the season.
The Purple Knights advance to the Conference semifinals to face regular season champion UMass-Lowell on Saturday at 12 noon.
Stonehill is now 15-6 overall this season.