Acone Matches Career-High With Eight Goal Effort, Stone Leads Defensive Charge With 10 Saves In Goal As Third-Ranked Women's Lacrosse Claims 12th Straight Victory With 13-5 Non-League Triumph At Top-Ranked And Defending NCAA National Champion Adelphi
April 3, 2005
STONEHILL WOMEN’S LACROSSE
Sunday, April 3, 2005
Stiles Field, Garden City, N.Y.
FINAL: STONEHILL 13, ADELPHI 5
1 2 Total
Stonehill (6-0) 7 6 - 13
Adelphi (6-1) 0 5 - 5
SCORING SUMMARY
STO GOALS: Erin Acone (8), Jenny McGrath (2), Brenna Newfell (2), Courtney Duggan
AU GOALS: Katherine Hock (2), Diana Lopez (1), Lauren Lopez (1), Meghan Blume
STO ASSISTS: McGrath (3), Acone (1), Kristin Darrell (1)
AU ASSISTS: D. Lopez (2), Dawn Anselmin
GOALIE SAVES
STO: Lauren Stone—10
AU: Allyson Murphy—5
GARDEN CITY, N.Y.-- Junior All-America Erin Acone (Bow, N.H.) matched her career-high with eight goals as third-ranked Stonehill scored 10 of the first 11 goals of the match to post a 13-5 non-league college women’s lacrosse victory over top-ranked and defending NCAA Division II national champion Adelphi Sunday afternoon at Stiles Field.
The visiting Chieftains (6-0), winners of 12 straight dating back to last April 21st and 18 of their last 19 outings dating back to March 30, 2004, scored the first seven goals of the contest in holding the host Panthers (6-1) scoreless in the first 30 minutes of action, as Acone netted four markers in the first half alone en route to 7-0 Stonehill lead at the break. After Adelphi got on the board just 2:23 into the second half, Stonehill used two more Acone tallies that sandwiched a goal by senior Brenna Newfell (North Billerica, Mass.) for a 10-1 cushion with just under 24 minutes remaining. The Panthers clawed back to within six at 11-5 with three unanswered goals in a 1:28 stretch, but the Chieftains kept Adelphi off the board for the remaining 17:42 of the contest, using insurance goals by Acone and junior Jenny McGrath (Milton, Mass.) in a late 2:10 stretch to account for the final score.
Acone, who along with Adelphi senior Katherine Hock (Mineola, N.Y.) are the two Division II representatives on the 2005 Tewaaraton Trophy watch list, matched her career-best goal-scoring effort that took place on April 22, 2004 in a win over Saint Anselm, as she chipped in with an assist to finish with a nine-point afternoon. McGrath added a pair of tallies and three assists for five points for the winners, while Newfell added a pair of markers for Stonehill, which also received a goal from senior Courtney Duggan (Billerica, Mass.) and an assist from freshman Kristin Darrell (West Islip, N.Y.).
Hock netted a pair of goals in the setback for Adelphi, which saw its eight-match winning streak that dated back to last year’s NCAA championship come to an end. Sophomore Diana Lopez (Farmingville, N.Y.) added a goal and a pair of assists for the Panthers, while sophomores Lauren Lopez (Farmingville, N.Y.) and Meghan Blume (Bel Air, Md.) each netted single goals and junior Dawn Anselmin (Lynbrook, N.Y.) chipped in with a single assist for the hosts on the day.
Junior Lauren Stone (Guilderland, N.Y.) picked up the win in goal for Stonehill with a 10-save effort, as she made five stops in each half of action for the visitors. Sophomore Allyson Murphy (Williston Park, N.Y.) made five saves in net in the setback for Adelphi as the Chieftains outshot the Panthers by a 24-23 margin for the match.
“It was a total team effort in all aspects of the game,” Stonehill Head Coach Michael Daly said following the victory. “Great team defense—winning draws—finishing shots—we went out and made things happen. Erin (Acone) stepped up when we needed her to on offense while controlling the middle, and Lauren (Stone) was very composed and poised in goal. She stemmed the momentum that Adelphi was building in the second half.”
The win was Stonehill’s third all-time against a team who entered the match as the top-ranked team in the nation, as the Chieftains had also topped then top-ranked LIU-C.W. Post in April 2003 before defeating top-ranked Longwood in the 2003 NCAA Division II national championship match. The victory also avenged a 15-5 Adelphi win over Stonehill last March and was the Chieftains’ third triumph in four all-time series meetings with the Panthers. Since the inception of the NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse Championship in 2001, Stonehill has posted wins against all three then-defending national champions the following season, as the Chieftains bested 2001 champion LIU-C.W. Post in the 2002 NCAA national semi-finals, 2002 champion West Chester in 2003 regular season and 2004 champion Adelphi in today’s contest.
Stonehill hosts Bentley in a Northeast-10 Conference match on Tuesday afternoon at Chieftain Stadium beginning at 3:30 p.m., while Adelphi hosts American International in a non-league match on Thursday afternoon at Stiles Field beginning at 4:00 p.m.