Senior All-American Jackie Ladino celebrates after scoring the Skyhawks second goal on their wey to a 3-0 win over Merrimack in today's NE-10 semifinal. (Jennifer Stanwick photo) |
NE-10 TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL
Top-seeded Stonehill Blanks Merrimack, 3-0
Skyhawk defense holds NE-10's second-ranked offense to just three shots to advance to Sunday's Championship game
EASTON, Mass. (October 31, 2009) - Top-seeded Stonehill College, ranked third in this week's Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, will play for the Northeast-10 Championship for the third time in program history with a 3-0 victory over fourth-seeded and No. 8-ranked Merrimack College in semifinal round action of the 2009 NE-10 Tournament at W.B. Mason Stadium today.
Stonehill (17-3, 9-1 NE-10) advances to tomorrow's NE-10 Championship where it will face the winner of today's second semifinal between second-seeded and 6th-ranked Bentley University (14-4, 8-2 NE-10) and third-seeded and 5th-ranked University of Massachusetts Lowell (16-4, 7-3 NE-10) at noon. Broadcast coverage will be provided free of charge via www.northeast10.tv as well as www.stonehillskyhawks.tv. Merrimack (13-8, 7-3 NE-10), which was making its first appearance in the NE-10 semifinals, sees its season come to a close after setting a program record for wins.
Stonehill, winners of seven-straight and 17 of 18, held Merrimack, the Northeast-10's second-ranked offense, averaging 3.18 goals per game, to just three shots (one on goal) to claim its NE-10 best sixth shutout of the season. Seniors Stephanie Kott (Rutland, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) and Ashley March (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) and junior Laura Noce (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) led the Skyhawks defensive effort.
Junior Courtney Foley put Stonehill up early with her sixth goal of the season in the opening five minutes. |
Junior goalkeeper Courtney Osier (South Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) needed to make just one first half save to record her sixth shutout of the year for Stonehill. Freshman Kerri Bergquist (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee) finished with 12 stops in goal for Merrimack, marking her tenth double-figure save performance of her first collegiate season. Stonehill finished with a 21-3 advantage in shots for the game, dominating penalty corners again, 18-3.
Stonehill opened the scoring just 4:25 into the contest when junior Courtney Foley (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial) took a pass from senior Claire Hourihan (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville North) and fired her sixth goal of the season from just inside the top of the circle off a corner.
Stonehill broke the game open with a pair of second half goals. The first came from senior All-American Jackie Ladino (North Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) who knocked in a rebound at the near post at 43:25 after Bergquist stopped an initial shot by Foley off a corner. The goal is the 12th of the season for Ladino who moved into sole possession of third place on Stonehill's all-time scoring list with 97 career points.
With Merrimack pressing forward, Stonehill sealed the win with 6:40 to play when sophomore Kathryn Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) broke down the right side and carried the ball past the Merrimack defense before scoring her tenth goal of the year with a low shot into the right side.
Stonehill, which captured its second NE-10 regular season title, will be seeking its second tournament title tomorrow. The Skyhawks shared the 2005 title with UMass Lowell.
