Sophomore Erika Kelly scored her NE-10 record 31st goal of the year for the Skyhawks this afternoon. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Kelly breaks NE-10 single-season goals record
Giordano nets hat trick, Gouveia celebrates Senior Day with goal, two assists 

EASTON, Mass. (October 27, 2013) – Stonehill College, ranked third in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll and first in the NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, tuned up for a big final week of the regular season with a commanding 7-0 victory over Dowling College in non-conference field hockey action on Senior Day at Timothy J. Coughlin Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.

Sophomore Erika Kelly (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) opened the scoring with her 31^st goal of the season, breaking the Northeast-10 Conference single season record of 30 set by Jen Bunce from Bentley University in 1998 and matched by her sister Allyson Bunce with Bentley in 2000 as well as Sammy Macy and Katie Enaire from the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2010. Kelly's 31 goals this fall are a program record and leads NCAA Division II, while her program-record and Division II-leading 63 points are tied with UMass Lowell's Sara Hohenberger for seventh in NE-10 history.

Sophomore Lauren Giordano (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) notched her first career hat trick this afternoon to lead Stonehill, while senior Kelly Gouveia (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) celebrated Senior Day with four points on a goal and two assists. Junior All-American Emily Sideris (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) and sophomore Elizabeth Thornton (Needham, Mass./Needham) also chipped in with goals for the Skyhawks.

Freshman goalkeeper Dana Dhami (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) made a season-high three saves in 21:22 of relief for junior Elizabeth Genovese (Street, Md./North Harford) who didn't face a shot over the first 48:38.

Sophomore Lauren Giordano scored her first career hat trick to lead the Skyhawks to victorty today. (PHOTO BY Emily Reynolds)

Sophomore Arianna Ovadia (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) posted 24 saves in the Dowling cage. Freshman Sarah Shams-Kollar (Poway, Calif./Poway) chipped in with a pair of defensive saves for the Golden Lions, who are in their first season as a varsity program.

Ovadia kept Stonehill off the scoreboard until the Skyhawks finally struck for three goals within a four minute span. Kelly opened the scoring with her record-breaking 31^st goal of the year as she took pass deep inside the scoring area and spun around her defender for a low shot into the left side of the goal at 23:29. Giordano followed with her first two goals of the afternoon, the first coming when she knocked in her own rebound on the right post at 25:52. She then tipped in a pass from the left side by Gouveia at 27:22 to cap the first half scoring.

Gouveia set up Sideris for her fifth goal of the year 7:43 into the second half on a counter attack with a through ball that sent Sideris in one on one with the Dowling goalkeeper. Gouveia followed with a goal of her own just over three minutes later as she collected her eighth goal of the year off a defensive turnover inside the circle at 45:48.

Thornton chipped in with her third goal of the year at 55:48 when she cut across the front of the scoring area and flipped a shot on her backhand side from five yards out. Giordano capped her hat trick at 62:25 with her tenth goal of the year with a tip in off a drive from the top of the arc by freshman Shea Healy (Greenfield, Mass./Pioneer Valley).

Prior to this afternoon's game, Stonehill recognized its five seniors who are playing in their final season for the Skyhawks. Gouveia and classmates Gina Sheehan (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury), Chelsea Emery (New Hampton, N.H./Tilton School), Kelsey Davis (Gardner, Mass./Gardner) and All-American Devin Ingersoll (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) have helped lead Stonehill to 50 wins, including 26 in NE-10 play, three Conference Tournament appearances, an NCAA Tournament bid and trip to the NCAA National Semifinals in 2010.

Stonehill (16-0, 8-0 NE-10) opens a big final week of the regular season on Tuesday night when it hosts 9^th-ranked Merrimack College, ranked third in the region, for a key Northeast-10 matchup for its Purple & White Game at 7 p.m. The Skyhawks close out the regular season at 3^rd-ranked LIU Post, ranked second in the region, on Saturday at noon.

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