Junior All-American Erika Kelly became the program's all-time goals leader with her two markers in today's win. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Kelly leads Skyhawks with five points, becomes program's all-time goals leader
RINDGE, N.H. (September 20, 2014) – Stonehill College, ranked fifth in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, remained perfect on the year with a commanding 4-1 victory over Franklin Pierce University in non-conference field hockey action at Sodexo Field this afternoon.
Junior All-American Erika Kelly (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) led Stonehill with five points on two goals and an assist, scoring her 54th career goal in the process to surpass Caitlin Gleason's, '08 previous career program record of 53 goals. Kelly's five points give her 115 (53 goals, 7 assists) over 45 career games played, moving within three points of Claire Hourihan, '10 (118 points) for second all-time at Stonehill and 17 points shy of Gleason's career mark of 132 points.
Stonehill also got goals from sophomore Shea Healy (Greenfield, Massachusetts/Pioneer Valley) and freshman Alexandria Sylvia (Brockton, Massachusetts/Brockton) in the win. Senior goaltender Elizabeth Genovese (Street, Maryland/North Harford) is untested in a scoreless 61:30, while sophomore Dana Dhami (Glastonbury, Connecticut/Glastonbury) made one stop over the final 8:30. Stonehill finished with a 22-5 advantage for shots in the contest, including 15-4 in the second half, while holding a 9-3 edge in penalty corners.
Senior Courtney Kelly (Plymouth, New Hampshire/Plymouth Regional) scored the
Sophomore Shea Healy scored her second gamewinning goal of the year for the Skyhawks with the opening marker. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
lone goal for Franklin Pierce. Freshman Meaghan Williams (Salem, New Hampshire/Salem) registered ten saves in the Ravens cage, including eight in the second half.
Stonehill jumped out to a three goal lead over the opening 13:29, with all three markers coming in a seven minute span, and never looked back. Healy opened the scoring with her second goal of the year when she tapped in a rebound in a scramble in front of the cage off a corner 6:36 into the contest. Kelly matched Gleason's career goals mark with her first of the afternoon when she slipped past a defender on the left side and fired a shot into the upper left corner just under three minutes later at 9:35. Kelly then set up Sylvia's third goal of the season with a cross from the left side for a tap in in the 14th minute.
Stonehill sealed the win with Kelly's record-breaking second goal of the afternoon (8th of the season) when she converted a penalty stroke 20 minutes into the second half. Courtney Kelly earned a late consolation goal for Franklin Pierce with 5:01 to play as she knocked in a rebound after Dhami made the initial save on junior Vanessa LeBlanc (Salisbury, Massachusetts/Amesbury).
Stonehill (5-0, 0-0 NE-10) now has ten days off before it returns home on Tuesday, September 30, to host Saint Anselm College for a non-conference contest at 7 p.m. Franklin Pierce (2-2, 0-0 NE-10) travels to Saint Michael's College next Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.