Head Coach Shelly Morris has the Skyhawks off to a 3-0 start for the first time in six years and ranked 4th in this week's national poll. (PHOTO BY Richard Orr) |
Skyhawks move up six spots from preseason ranking in first regular season Penn Monto/NFHCA Division II poll of season after 3-0 start
EASTON, Mass. (September 17, 2013) – The Stonehill College field hockey team, off to a 3-0 start for the first time since winning its first seven games in 2007, has moved up to No. 4 in the first Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches' Association (NFHCA) Division II poll of the regular season after being ranked 10th in the preseason poll.
Stonehill opened the season with a pair of wins over preseason top ten teams before adding a 4-2 victory at Saint Michael's College in its Northeast-10 Conference opener on Saturday. The Skyhawks opened the year with a 3-2 overtime triumph at perennial national power Bloomsburg (Pa.) University, ranked third in the preseason poll and now seventh this week's rankings, and then rallied from two goals down four times to claim a 6-5 victory at then 9th-ranked East Stroudsburg University. It marked Stonehill's first sweep of a weekend Pennsylvania trip since 2005.
Shippensburg (Pa.) University moved up one spot from the preseason poll to No. 1 in the country with a 4-0 record and earning 16 of the 18 first place votes. Preseason No. 1 West Chester (Pa.) University is ranked second with a 3-1 mark and a first place vote, while Millersville (Pa.) University is ranked third with a 3-0 record and the remaining first place vote after being ranked fourth in the preseason. Stonehill leads three Northeast-10 members in the poll this week, with league newcomer LIU Post (2-0) ranked fifth and American International College (3-1) ranked tenth.
Stonehill has been led by sophomore Erika Kelly (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) with a Conference-high 14 points and seven goals, while senior All-American Devin Ingersoll (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) has added two goals for four points. Junior goalie Elizabeth Genovese (Street, Md./North Harford) has played all 211:20 in the Skyhawks goal and has posted a 2.98 goals against average and .654 save percentage, while averaging 5.7 saves per game this fall.
Stonehill (3-0, 1-0 NE-10) is back in action tonight when it visits preseason NE-10 favorites Merrimack College (2-2, 0-0 NE-10) for a non-conference contest at 7 p.m. The Skyhawks open their home schedule on Thursday with a non-conference clash against 10th-ranked American International at W.B. Mason Stadium at 7 p.m. Stonehill closes the week out at Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday at 2 p.m.
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