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| Mary Maloney had four draw controls to go with a goal and an assist in the loss |
Golden Lions Hand No. 7 Skyhawks First Loss Of The Season
Easton, Mass. - In a game that featured over forty fouls and 18 free position shots, the seventh ranked Skyhawks gave up an early lead and were never able to get even , falling to the Golden Lions 10-7 on Friday afternoon at W.B. Stadium.
It was physical from the onset, as a Stonehill foul just 45 seconds into the contest gave Kelly Cefalu a free position shot which she put past goalie Justine Ferland (Portsmouth, N.H.) for the 1-0 lead.
The Skyhawks wasted little time in tying up the contest as Michelle Kelly (Mendham, N.J.) evened the score on her first shot of the game, less than a minute later. Junior Liza Gross (Loudonville, N.Y.) gave Stonehill its first lead of the game a minute after that, scoring off an assist from Mary Maloney (Great River, N.Y.).
The Golden Lions weren' finished, as Cassandra Cronin score three unanswered goals for Dowling, with the final one coming at the 18:30 mark to give the Golden Lions a 4-2 advantage. Coach Katie Lambert-Conover called a timeout and the Skyhawks responded as senior Michelle Salmon (East Islip, N.Y.) grabbed the ball off the face-off and got it to Gross who cut the lead to 4-3 just 14 seconds later on her second tally of the afternoon
That would be the last goal of the half for Stonehill as the Dowling defense denied the Skyhawks a shot over the final 17:41 of the half. The Golden Lions scored twice over that same time period, with the final goal of the half coming on Cronin's fourth goal of the game.
In the second half, Dowling scored at 26:10 mark to stretch their lead to four, but Maloney's goal a minute and a half later off a Kelly dish made the score 7-4.
Stephanie Cotter's two scores over the next five minutes brought the lead up to five before Gross narrowed the lead to four with 19 minutes remaining on her third goal of the game.
Despite another Golden Lion score with 14:25 left, Kelly made sure the Skyhawks wouldn't go quietly, scoring two unassisted goals, the final of which narrowed the lead to 10-7 with just under nine minutes remaining.
Kelly had a chance to get the lead to two, but was unable to convert a free-position shot at the 8:40 mark and a Maloney shot 20 seconds later was denied as well. That would be the last shot of the game for Stonehill, as Dowling played keep away over the final eight minutes to claim the 10-7 upset win.
The Skyhawks committed to 17 turnovers to just nine for the Golden Lions and were 2-7 on free-position shots, while their counterparts were 4-11. Kelly had three goals an assist and Gross added three as well. Ferland made eight saves in net as Stonehill dropped to 2-1 on the season with the loss.
The Skyhawks return to action on Thursday when they play host to American International at 3:00 p.m.