Junior Elizabeth Thornton got the Skyhawks rolling in the second half with her third goal of the season. (PHOTO BY Emily Reynolds) |
Kelly and Thornton lead three goal second half for Skyhawks
EASTON, Mass. (October 11, 2014) – Stonehill College, ranked No. 4 in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, scored three unanswered goals in the second half to come away with a 3-1 victory over rival Bentley University in Northeast-10 Conference field hockey action at Timothy J. Coughlin Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.
Junior All-American Erika Kelly (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) spearheaded the Stonehill comeback with two second half goals after classmate Elizabeth Thornton (Needham, Massachusetts/Needham) got the Skyhawks off the mark with her third goal of the season. Senior Elizabeth Genovese (Street, Maryland/North Harford) posted two second half saves to keep Bentley off the scoreboard over the final 35 minutes. Stonehill finished with a 19-7 advantage in shots for the afternoon, including 15-6 after halftime. The Skyhawks also held a 9-7 edge in penalty corners, logging eight after the intermission.
Freshman Taylor Kane (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania/Liberty) scored Bentley's goal on its first shot of the contest with just 2:52 remaining in the first half. She flipped a shot from the right side off a feed from sophomore Tori Ellis (Madison, New Jersey/Madison) on the second pass from the top of the circle off a penalty corner.
Junior All-American Erika Kelly scored two second half goals. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Junior Katie Kelley (Walpole, Massachusetts/Walpole) registered ten saves in the Falcons cage, including eight in the second half.
Stonehill came out firing in the second half after a flat opening 35 minutes with Thornton opening the Skyhawks scoring when she fired in a rebound on the left side of the cage after Kelley made the initial stop on a shot by junior Lauren Giordano (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) in the 42nd minute.
Kelly put Stonehill in front with what proved to be her first gamewinning goal of the season when she knocked a rebound off her own shot at a tight angle on the left post over Kelley's left shoulder 9:02 into the second half. Kelly added some insurance with her 11th goal of the season (57th career) on a penalty stroke at 50:01. The two goals this afternoon not only add to her program-record career total, but give Kelly 122 career points – good for sole possession of second place on the program's all-time scoring list, ten points shy of the program record of 132 by Caitlin Gleason, '08.
Stonehill (7-1, 2-0 NE-10) is back in action on Friday, October 17, when it hosts 6th-ranked LIU Post in a big NE-10 matchup at W.B. Mason Stadium at 6 p.m. Bentley (5-4, 1-1 NE-10) hosts Adelphi University next Saturday at noon.
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