Smith notched her third hat trick of the year, netting a career-high matching four goals to go with two assists. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Smith leads program-record goal output with four goals, two assists

EASTON, Mass. (September 17, 2017) – Stonehill College, ranked No. 10 in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, notched a 12-0 victory over the University of New Haven in non-conference field hockey action on Timothy J. Coughlin, '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.

Junior All-American Kacie Smith (Norwood, Massachusetts/Norwood) led Stonehill's program-record goal output with a career-high matching four goals, to go with two assists, for ten points. It marks her second double-figure point game of the season and her third hat trick of the year as the Skyhawks 12 goals surpasses its previous high of 11 markers against first-year Southern New Hampshire University in 2014.

Freshman Taylor Ladue (Westminster, Massachusetts/Oakmont Regional) also contributed two goals and an assist, while six other Skyhawks also contributed markers in the game. Senior Alexandra Dillon (Canton, Massachusetts/Canton) and junior Morgan Greenberg (Mendon, Massachusetts/Hopedale) each netted their first career goals, while senior Hannah Gifford (Goffstown, New Hampshire/Goffstown) chipped in with her first goal of the year.

Stonehill held its second opponent of the year without a shot as three Skyhawks goalkeepers were untested in the shutout. Junior Sara Freedman (Hopkinton, Massachusetts/Hopkinton) played the opening 51:36 in the Skyhawks cage, before making way for the collegiate debuts of sophomore Casey Roche (Northbridge, Massachusetts/Northbridge) and freshman Katie Lammando (Hershey, Pennsylvania/Lower Dauphin). It marked the first time Freedman exited the Stonehill cage since halftime of an 8-2 win over Southern Connecticut State University on October 16, 2015, ending a string of nearly 2,229 consecutive minutes played in the Skyhawks net.

Ladue posted her first collegiate multi-goal game, finishing with two goals and an assist. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Freshman Natalie Shaker (Newtown, Connecticut/Newtown) finished with 19 saves in the New Haven goal. Stonehill outshot the Chargers 44-0 and held a 10-0 advantage or penalty corners.

New Haven kept Stonehill at bay through 14 minutes before senior Alexandria Sylvia (Brockton, Massachusetts/Brockton) opened the scoring with her second goal of the game off a nice spin move past Shaker, assisted by Ladue, at 14:09. That sparked a run of three goals over the span of 1:43 as Smith struck twice with 11-seconds to extend the lead. Ladue added her first goal of the game at 21:44 and then Smith set up junior Carly Andersen (Cheshire, Connecticut/Canterbury School) for her fifth goal of the year at 27:27 as the Skyhawks took a 5-0 lead at halftime.

Stonehill broke the game open with a seven-goal second half, with Smith scoring a pair at 42:04 and 47:37 and assisting on Gifford's first of the year at 43:44. Ladue capped her first collegiate multi-goal game at 53:17 with her third goal of the season.

Stonehill (3-3, 0-0 NE10) returns to action on Wednesday when it visits Bentley University for its Northeast-10 Conference opener at 6 p.m. The Skyhawks return to W.B. Mason Stadium next Saturday, September 23, to host Southern Connecticut State University at 1 p.m. New Haven (0-5), which will be a fully competing member of the NE10 in 2018, visits American International College next Saturday at noon.

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