Senior back Courtney Foley led the Skyhawks defense which limited Assumption to just four shots and also posted a goal and two assists this afternoon. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes).

Foley leads Skyhawks defense and posts goal and two assists

EASTON, Mass. (September 8, 2010) – Stonehill College picked up its first win of the season with an 8-0 triumph over Assumption College in Northeast-10 Conference field hockey action at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.

Senior back Courtney Foley (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial) led Stonehill on both ends of the field, spearheading a defensive unit which notched its first shutout of the season by limiting Assumption to just four shots – two on goal. She also picked up four points on the offensive end as part of the Skyhawks corner unit with a goal and two assists. Stonehill earned 13 penalty corners on the afternoon and scored goals off four of them.

Junior Kathryn Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) netted two goals for Stonehill, while senior Lindsey Pinkham (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan) and junior Laura Menke (Greenland, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas) both added a goal and assist. Sophomore Chelsea Fizell (Cotuit, Mass./The Berkshire School) and freshmen Kelsey Davis (Gardner, Mass./Gardner) and Kelly Gouveia (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) each chipped in with their first collegiate goals.

Senior Courtney Osier (South Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) and sophomore Kaitlyn Curtis (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) split the goaltending duties for Stonehill in the shutout. Osier made two saves in just under 49-minutes of work, while Curtis was untested over the final 21:08. The Skyhawks finished with a 21-4 advantage in shots for the game to go with a 13-4 break on penalty corners.

Junior Kathryn Nelson scored a pair of goals in the win. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr).

Senior Danielle Luongo (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin) and sophomore Kristen Manchester (East Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) split the goaltending duties for Assumption, with Luongo posting four saves, while yielding six goals, in the first 48:52. Manchester had four stops and allowed two goals over the final 21:08.

Stonehill started fast, scoring the only goal it would need just 5:19 into the contest when Menke pounced on a loose ball at the far post and stuffed it past Luongo for her first career marker. The Skyhawks doubled their lead when freshman Devin Ingersoll (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) sent a pass from the left side to Davis who knocked in her first collegiate goal at 11:03.

Stonehill scored three times in an eight minute span to put the game away before halftime. Nelson netted her first of the season at 21:10 when she tipped in a drive from the top of the arc by Foley off a corner. Pinkham scored her second of the year when she knocked in a rebound at the near post off a corner at 27:14, before Nelson rounded out the first half scoring with a one-time on the doorstep off a pass from the left side by Menke.

Stonehill broke the game wide open with three goals in the second half. Foley scored her first of the year with a blast from the top of the arc off a corner by Pinkham, which was settled by senior Lauren Gifford (Goffstown, N.H./Goffstown). Gouveia tipped in another Foley drive from the edge of the arc off a corner at 62:22 before Fizell rounded out the scoring at 76:44 by knocking in a rebound at the far post from close range.

Stonehill (1-2, 0-0 NE-10) is right back in action at W.B. Mason Stadium on Saturday when it hosts Merrimack College in another non-conference clash at noon. Assumption (0-3, 0-0 NE-10) hosts American International College on Saturday at 1 p.m.