Sophomore Erika Kelly scored four goals, giving her a record sixth hat trick of the season, to lead the Skyhawks to victory. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Kelly nets four goals, Giordano posts goal and two assists, Gouveia adds pair for Skyhawks

EASTON, Mass. (October 19, 2013) – Stonehill College, ranked third in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, posted an 8-4 shootout victory over Southern Connecticut State University in Northeast-10 Conference field hockey action at Timothy J. Coughlin Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.

Sophomore Erika Kelly (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) led Stonehill to its record 14^th-straight win to open the season with four goals for her school-record sixth hat trick of the season. Her program-record and Division II-leading 28 goals are just two shy of the NE-10 single-season record of 30 set by Bentley University's Jen Bunce in 1998 and matched three times since and she also stretched out her program record for points in a season to Division II-best 57 with the eight points today.

Sophomore Lauren Giordano (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) added four points for Stonehill with a goal and two assists in the second half as the Skyhawks broke open a 2-2 game at halftime with six goals over the final 35 minutes. Senior Kelly Gouveia (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) added two second half goals for the Skyhawks, while freshman Shea Healy (Greenfield, Mass./Pioneer Valley) chipped in with her first collegiate goal.

Junior Elizabeth Genovese (Street, Md./North Harford) finished with one save over the opening 53:45 in the Stonehill goal before giving way to freshman Dana Dhami (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) who added a save in her collegiate debut over the final 16:15. The Skyhawks posted a 37-9 advantage in shots on the day, including 20-3 in the opening half, and held an 11-4 edge for penalty corners.

Sophomore Audrey Dolloff (Raynham, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) was outstanding in goal for Southern Connecticut State, particularly in the opening half, with 11 of her 17 stops in the opening 35 minutes. Sophomore Marisa McCann (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) added four saves over the final 19:49.

Sophomore Lauren Giordano posted all of her goal and two assists during a three goal flurry that broke the game open for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Emily Reynolds)

Senior Sarah Cebry (Burlington, Conn./Lewis Mills) paced the Southern offense with two goals and an assist for five points. Sophomore Anna Marcucilli (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) and freshman Kristi Montemurro (New Milford, Conn./New Milford) each chipped in goals for the Owls. Freshman Alicia Morgan (Stafford, Conn./Stafford) contributed an assist and a defensive save.

Stonehill opened the scoring just 46-seconds into the contest when Kelly broke up a pass across the front of the Southern goal by the Owls defense and slotted her first goal of the afternoon to the right of Dolloff. Southern equalized the score at 11:45 when Marcucilli drove in a shot off a Cebry penalty corner and stop by Morgan.

Stonehill regained the lead with Kelly's second of the day at 24:39 when she was left undefended on the left side and walked in and fired a shot into the right side of the cage off a Southern defender. Southern leveled the score again just before halftime as Montemurro one-timed a shot on the left side off a pass from the right side by freshman Jaime Matson (East Hartland, Conn./Simsbury) at 33:28.

Kelly finished off her hat trick 5:38 into the second half with a flipped shot over the keeper's shoulder off a long pass from midfield on a counterattack. The Skyhawks broke the game open from there, netting three more goals over a two and a half minute span with Giordano playing a role in all three markers. She set up Gouveia's first goal of the afternoon on the right side at 46:40. Giordano added her seventh goal of the year when she knocked in her own rebound just 27-seconds later at 47:07. She then set up Gouveia again at 49:10 with a pass from the top of the scoring area for a one-time on the left side for her seventh goal of the year.

Cebry got a goal back for Southern Connecticut State when she knocked in a loose ball on the left side of the Stonehill goal at 50:23. Healy's first collegiate goal off a pass from senior Kelsey Davis (Gardner, Mass./Gardner) regained the four goal cushion for the Skyhawks at 52:06. Cebry added her second goal of the afternoon (12^th season) off a pass from freshman Zoe Fanolis (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) at 53:45. Kelly capped the scoring, with all eight second half markers coming in a 14-minute span, with her fourth of the day at 54:30 when she tipped in a drive from the upper right side by senior All-American Devin Ingersoll (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry).

Stonehill (14-0, 7-0 NE-10) returns to action on Wednesday when it visits Franklin Pierce University for a Northeast-10 Conference matchup at 6 p.m. The Skyhawks return home next Sunday, October 27, to host Dowling College in a non-conference contest on Senior Day at 1 p.m. Southern Connecticut State (3-11, 3-5 NE-10) travels to Adelphi University on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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