Junior Kathryn Nelson notched her first career hat trick to lead the Skyhawks past Saint Anselm this afternoon. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Nelson hat trick leads Skyhawks to bounce back win
EASTON, Mass. (September 25, 2010) – Junior forward Kathryn Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) netted her first career hat trick to lead Stonehill College, ranked 9th in this week's Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, to a 4-0 victory over Saint Anselm College in non-conference field hockey action at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.
Nelson's three goals give her a team-best nine for the year and her two first half goals ran her streak of goals scored for Stonehill to six-straight dating back to a Lauren Gifford (Goffstown, N.H./Goffstown) tally against Merrimack College on September 11. Senior Lindsey Pinkham (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan) also scored a goal for the Skyhawks, while freshman Devin Ingersoll (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) dished her fourth assist of the year.
Senior Courtney Osier (South Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) made two second half saves to preserve her second shutout of the season (13th career) for Stonehill. The Skyhawks finished with a 26-3 advantage in shots for the contest, including a 12-0 edge in the first half, and posted a 15-5 break in penalty corners. Sophomore Lindsay MacDonald (Dedham, Mass./Dedham) finished with ten saves on the afternoon for Saint Anselm, including eight in the second half. Senior back Bradi True (Windham, Maine/Catherine McAuley) registered a pair of defensive saves for the Hawks.
Senior Courtney Osier made two second half saves to preserve her 13th career shutout. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Nelson opened the scoring for Stonehill, which scored twice in each half, with 11:44 remaining in the opening stanza when she knocked in a loose ball off True's clear off the line from a shot by Skyhawks sophomore Brittany Ford (Augusta, Maine/Cony). Nelson doubled the Skyhawks lead 3:01 before the break when she pounced on a loose ball on the right side and slotted a shot past MacDonald.
Saint Anselm applied some early pressure in the opening seven minutes of the second half, getting all three of its shots in the afternoon and a pair of penalty corners, in an attempt to make a comeback, but Osier made two stops to keep the Hawks at bay. Pinkham scored her third goal of the season when she one-timed a low pass across the goal mouth by Ingersoll at the far left post 9:54 into the second frame. The goal game just over a minute after MacDonald made two diving saves on point blank Stonehill attempts by Nelson and Ingersoll.
Nelson rounded out the scoring and her hat trick with 16:57 to play in regulation when she knocked in a rebound from the first side after a shot from the top of the arc by senior Courtney Foley (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial) off a corner.
Stonehill (4-4, 0-0 NE-10) is back in action on Tuesday night when it opens defense of its Northeast-10 regular season championship against Southern Connecticut State University at W.B. Mason Stadium at 7 p.m. Saint Anselm (0-5, 0-0 NE-10) hosts Southern Connecticut State next Saturday for an NE-10 matchup at 2 p.m.
Postgame Interviews with Kathryn Nelson &
Coach Shelly Morris |