Watertown, Mass., sophomore honored after breaking program goals and points records
EASTON, Mass. (October 15, 2013) – Stonehill College sophomore Erika Kelly (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference's Player of the Week for field hockey for the third time this season by the league office today.
Kelly, who has also collected Player of the Week honors on September 9 and 23, scored five of Stonehill's seven goals in a 2-0 week and in the process broke the program's single-season records for goals and points. She netted her fifth hat trick of the season as the Skyhawks rallied from a two goal first half deficit for a 4-3 win over Saint Anselm College on Wednesday, surpassing Claire Hourihan's, '10, single-season record for goals (20) set in 2008 and matched in 2009. Kelly added two more goals in Saturday's 3-0 win over Adelphi University, breaking Hourihan's single-season scoring mark of 48 points.
Kelly, who earned NE-10 Rookie of the Week accolades once as a freshman, leads Division II in scoring with her now school-record 49 points and goals with 24 in 11 games played out of 12 for Stonehill. She has scored 24 of the Skyhawks 44 goals this season (54.6-percent) and 24 of the 40 (60%) goals scored in her 11 games played. Kelly leads the NE-10 with her seven gamewinning goals and has converted both penalty stroke attempts this fall.
Kelly enters the week six goals shy of the Northeast-10 single-season record of 30 goals set by Jen Bunce from Bentley University in 1998 and matched by Bentley's Allyson Bunce in 2000 as well as UMass Lowell's Sammy Macy and Katie Enaire in 2010. Jamie Vanartsdalen of Bloomsburg (Pa.) University holds the Division II record with 40 goals, while the NE-10 single-season scoring mark of 76 points is held by Macy from UMass Lowell (2010). Kelly's 4.45 points per game and 2.18 goals per game are both on pace to establish new NCAA Division single-season records.
Kelly has posted 32 goals and three assists for 67 points in 30 career games played in her second season for Stonehill. Kelly ranked third on the Skyhawks in scoring as a freshman as she finished with eight goals and two assists for 18 points in 19 games played (six starts), earning a spot on the NE-10 All-Rookie Team. She enters this week ranked fifth on Stonehill's career goals list and ninth for career scoring.
Stonehill (12-0, 5-0 NE-10), which moved up one spot to No. 3 in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, looks to continue its program-best start with a pair of games this week, starting this afternoon at American International College at 4 p.m., before returning home to host Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday at noon.
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