Acone Nets Five Goals And Earns 250th Career Point As Top-Ranked Women's Lacrosse Notches NCAA Record 34th Consecutive Victory With 17-5 Northeast-10 Triumph Over 10th-Ranked Merrimack

March 31, 2006

STONEHILL WOMEN'S LACROSSE

Friday, March 31, 2006

W.B. Mason Stadium, Easton, Mass.

FINAL:STONEHILL 17, MERRIMACK 5

12Total

Merrimack (4-2, 3-1 Northeast-10)32- 5

Stonehill (7-0, 4-0 Northeast-10)89- 17

SCORING SUMMARY

MER GOALS:Amanda Simeone, Alison Colarusso, Allison Kownacki,

Lauryn Serratore, Erin Black

STO GOALS:Erin Acone (5), Kristin Darrell (3), Michelle Kelly (3), Tracey Hoffman (3),

Jenny McGrath (2), Mary Maloney

MER ASSISTS:Simeone, Kathleen Esposito, Jennifer Strachan

STO ASSISTS:McGrath (5), Darrell, Kelly, Christa LaRocco, Michelle Salmon

GOALIE SAVES

MER:Gina Sansone-13

STO:Lauren Stone-8

EASTON, Mass.-- Senior All-America Erin Acone (Bow, N.H.) netted five goals to become the third player in school history to eclipse the 250-career point plateau as top-ranked Stonehill extended its NCAA Division II record winning streak to 34 straight with a 17-5 Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse victory over 10th-ranked Merrimack Friday evening at W.B. Mason Stadium.

The host Skyhawks (7-0, 4-0 Northeast-10) collected their 52nd straight conference triumph dating back to April 2000 in the first home night match played on campus, as Acone snapped a 1-1 tie early in the match with four straight goals to give Stonehill a 5-1 lead with 9:11 remaining in the half en route to an 8-3 cushion at the break. Acone's fourth goal proved to be her 250th career point, as she joins former Skyhawk standouts Katie Lambert (who now serves as Merrimack's head coach) and Colby Confer in that club. The hosts then scored the first five markers after intermission and netted nine of the 11 goals scored in the final 30 minutes of play to extend their overall winning streak that dates back to April 2004 and improve to 65-1 all-time in Northeast-10 play since the league's inception in 1999.

Senior All-America Jenny McGrath (Milton, Mass.) netted a pair of goals and five assists for seven points in the triumph for Stonehill, which also received a hat trick and an assist each from sophomore All-America Kristin Darrell (West Islip, N.Y.) and freshman Michelle Kelly (Mendham, N.J.). Junior Tracey Hoffman (Nashua, N.H.) collected a hat trick as well for the winners, who also received a goal from freshman Mary Maloney (Great River, N.Y.) and single assists off the sticks of sophomore Christa LaRocco (West Islip, N.Y.) and freshman Michelle Salmon (East Islip, N.Y.).

Sophomore Amanda Simeone (Nashua, N.H.) netted a goal and an assist in the setback for the visiting Warriors (4-2, 3-1 Northeast-10), who also received single tallies from seniors Alison Colarusso (North Andover, Mass.) and Erin Black (Walpole, Mass.) as well as sophomores Lauryn Serratorre (Norwood, Mass.) and Allison Kownacki (Orange, Conn.). Junior Jennifer Strachan (Bedford, Mass.) and freshman Kathleen Esposito (Simsbury, Conn.) joined Simeone in posting assists on the night for Merrimack.

Senior All-America Lauren Stone (Guilderland, N.Y.) picked up her 31st straight win in goal for Stonehill with an eight-save effort, while freshman Gina Sansone (Norwood, Mass.) made 13 stops in net for Merrimack as the Skyhawks outshot the Warriors by a 36-13 margin in posting their 15th victory in as many series meetings between the two schools.

Stonehill hosts New Haven in a non-league outing on Sunday afternoon at W.B. Mason Stadium beginning at 1:00 p.m., while Merrimack travels to New Haven, Conn. on Tuesday afternoon to take on Southern Connecticut in a Northeast-10 match-up that begins at 4:00 p.m.