Freedman finished with nine saves, moving within nine of the program's career mark. (PHOTO BY Mike Tureski/SportsPix) |
Burchill scores only goal of contest with 28-seconds remaining to send Greyhounds to final
EASTON, Mass. (November 3, 2017) – Assumption College freshman Deirdre Burchill (Braintree, Massachusetts/Braintree) scored the lone goal with just 28-seconds remaining to hand second-seeded Stonehill College, ranked No. 6 in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to the sixth-seeded Greyhounds in semifinal round action of the Northeast-10 Conference field hockey tournament on Timothy J. Coughlin '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium tonight.
Assumption (12-8, 7-5 NE10) advances to Sunday's NE10 Championship game at No. 4-seed LIU Post (17-3, 9-3 NE10) at 1 p.m. The Pioneers advanced with a 3-2 double-overtime triumph at top-seeded Saint Anselm College (17-2, 11-1 NE10) in tonight's other semifinal. Stonehill (13-6, 10-2 NE10) will now await word on a potential NCAA Tournament bid, when the NCAA Division II selection show airs on Monday via ncaa.com at 3 p.m.
Burchill's sixth goal of the season came off a loose ball in front of the cage after Stonehill junior goalkeeper Sara Freedman (Hopkinton, Massachusetts/Hopkinton) got a pad
Bachelder posted a defensive save for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Mike Tureski/SportsPix) |
to a cross from the right side by Assumption senior Allison Sheahan (Higganum, Connecticut/Haddam-Killingworth). The ball deflected off Freedman's pad directly to Burchill as she charged towards the goal, knocking the ball into the right side of the net, giving Freedman no chance at a reaction save.
Junior Sarah Bodzinski (Southwick, Massachusetts/Southwick Tolland Regional) notched her sixth shutout of the season for Assumption with just one first half save. Her defense protected her in front by limiting the top-scoring team in Division II to just six shots and none on target over the final 58-minutes. The Greyhounds also held a 7-4 edge in penalty corners to go with the 13-6 advantage for shots.
Freedman finished with nine saves in the Stonehill cage, while freshman back Elaine Bachelder (South Berwick, Maine/Marshwood) recorded a defensive save with under ten minutes to play. Freedman's nine saves tonight give her 347 for her career to move into third place on the program's career list past Elizabeth Genovese '15, and within nine of Cindy Pulz's '03 career record 356 stops. Freedman's 119 saves this season rank fourth on Stonehill's all-time single-season list.
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