Senior Lizzie Lane leads the Skyhawks in goals, ground balls and caused turnovers, netting a team-high four goals in Wednesday's NE-10 Quarterfinal win. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Fourth-seeded Skyhawks head for Long Island for 17th-straight NE-10 semifinal appearance
Northeast-10 Women's Lacrosse Championship Central
Northeast-10 Women's Lacrosse Championship history
EASTON, Mass. (May 1, 2015) – Fourth-seeded Stonehill College, ranked sixth in this week's Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Top 20 poll and seventh in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll, and top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Adelphi University will renew their postseason rivalry when they square off in semifinal round action of the 2015 Northeast-10 Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament at Motamed Field on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Adelphi, the regular season co-champions in the Northeast-10 are serving as host of the NE-10 semifinals and championship on Saturday and Sunday. Second-seeded and No. 4/5 Le Moyne College (16-2, 12-1 NE-10) and third-seeded and No. 4/5 University of New Haven (15-2, 11-2 NE-10) will meet in tomorrow's second semifinal at Motamed Field at 2 p.m. The NE-10 Championship will be decided on Sunday at 1 p.m. Admission for this weekend's games is $6.00 for adults, $4.00 for children and senior citizens and $1.00 for students from participating teams with valid ID. The game will also be webcast live via www.aupanthers.tv with live stats also available. Links to both will be available through www.stonehillskyhawks.com as well.
Stonehill advanced to its record 17th-straight NE-10 semifinal round with a 15-10 triumph over fifth-seeded and No. 17/19 Bentley University in Wednesday's quarterfinal round at W.B. Mason Stadium. Seniors Lizzie Lane (Sandwich, Massachusetts/Bishop Stang) and Brooke Rudden (Hopkinton, Massachusetts/Hopkinton) paced the Stonehill attack with four points apiece and the Skyhawks sandwiched a nine goal run around halftime to break the game open. Lane netted a game-high four goals to go with six draw controls, while Rudden added a goal and three assists with a caused turnover. Senior Jillian Yung (Bridgewater, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham) and junior Caitlin Sweeney (Hollis, New Hampshire/Hollis-Brookline) each netted three goals for Stonehill, while senior Ashley Armstrong (Northborough, Massachusetts/Algonquin) made seven saves in the Stonehill goal, chipping in with two ground balls, for her 47th career win – matching the program record set by Stonehill Athletics Hall of Famer Lauren Stone '06.
Adelphi, the defending NE-10 Tournament champions and winners of four of the five titles since joining the Conference prior to the 2010 season, reached the semifinals with a 16-4 victory over eighth-seeded Saint Michael's College in Wednesday's quarterfinal round. Senior Alexa Froccaro (Port Washington, New York/Port Washington) posted a six point night for the Panthers with five goals and an assist, while classmate Danielle Jaycox (Amityville, New York/Saint John the Baptist) added three goals. Juniors Rachel Aitkens (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey/Hunterdon Central Regional) and Emily Keesling (Bel Air, Maryland/Patterson Mill) as well as sophomore Jacqueline Jahelka (Garden City, New York/Garden City) each chipped in with a pair of markers.
Freshman Kelly Healey has established herself as one of the Skyhawks topd defensive players in her rookie season. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Stonehill, which has appeared in all 17 NE-10 Tournaments since the Conference started sponsoring the event in 1999, has reached at least the semifinal round every year. The Skyhawks have won an NE-10 record nine championships – doing so consecutively from 2000 through 2008, but seek their first championship game appearance since 2010. Adelphi already ranks second to Stonehill with their four NE-10 Tournament titles in five years, reaching the championship game each season since joining the league. The Skyhawks and Panthers have met in the NE-10 semifinals four straight years, including tomorrow's clash, with Adelphi winning each time, including a 14-5 triumph here last spring.
Tomorrow marks the 21st meeting all-time between these two programs, the seventh in postseason play and fifth in the NE-10 Tournament. Adelphi holds a 15-5 advantage in the all-time series, having won each of the last 13 encounters, including a 15-5 victory on Long Island just two weeks ago on April 18. The Panthers have won five of the six previous postseason matchups, including all four in the NE-10 Tournament, after last season's semifinal win. Two of the four NE-10 Tournament meetings have been decided in overtime by just a single goal, with Adelphi notching a 14-13 victory in the 2010 championship match and a 12-11 decision in the 2012 semifinals.
Stonehill, ranked fourth in this week's NCAA Division II North Regional rankings, looks to have sealed an NCAA Tournament bid by reaching the semifinals of the NE-10 Tournament after posting a head-to-head win over No. 9/10 LIU Post (8-7), ranked fifth in the region, in the regular season finale last Saturday. The Skyhawks are ranked fourth in the Northeast-10 for both scoring offense (13.3 goals per game) and team goals against average (7.68), while ranking second for draw controls, third for shooting percentage (.504) and fourth for caused turnovers.
Stonehill head coach Katie Conover '03 boasts nine seniors who all play key roles this season. Senior Ashley Armstrong (Northborough, Massachusetts/Algonquin Regional), the program's career saves leader with 517, is just a win shy of setting a new career victories mark. Armstrong has played all 1,086 minutes in the Skyhawks goal this season and ranks fourth among NE-10 leaders with a 7.68 goals against average and .475 save percentage, averaging 7.0 saves per game.
Senior Grace Hazelwood (West Simsbury, Connecticut/West Simsbury), junior Remi DiRe (Winchester, Massachusetts/Winchester), sophomore Cara Corvino (Dorset, Vermont/Burr and Burton Academy) and freshman Kelly Healey (Westwood, Massachusetts/Westwood) provide defensive protection for Armstrong. Corvino is second on the team with 19 caused turnovers and third with 36 ground balls, while DiRe has contributed nine caused turnovers and 28 ground balls.
Senior Brooke Rudden is the Skyhawks key playmaker with 62 points, including 45 assists. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Rudden, a two-time All-Northeast-10 selection, is Stonehill's top playmaker with a team-high 62 points (8th NE-10) on 17 goals and a team-best 45 assists (3rd), which is the second-highest assist total in program history. She also ranks fifth all-time in program history with 94 career assists. Lane, an All-NE-10 first team pick, leads the Skyhawks with 39 goals (12th), while adding seven assists for 46 points to go with a team-high 43 ground balls (12th) and 24 caused turnovers (8th) with 57 draw controls (9th).
Senior co-captain Cassandra McGill (Westborough, Massachusetts/Westborough) is second on the team in scoring with 47 points (17th), having posted 29 goals and 18 assists (9th), while sophomore Elizabeth Vetter (Great River, New York/East Islip) has contributed 35 goals and four assists for 39 points with a team-high 76 draw controls (5th).
Adelphi enters tomorrow's game winners of its last two after suffering its lone loss of the year against New Haven on April 22, snapping a 36 game winning streak that dated back two years. The Panthers lead the Northeast-10 in scoring (16.7 gpg), goals against average (5.06), draw controls and caused turnovers.
Froccaro leads Adelphi in scoring with 79 points on a team-high 57 goals to go with 22 assists, 24 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers. Junior Rachel O'Brien (Bayport, New York/Bayport-Blue Point) is second on the team with 78 points on 31 goals and a team-high 47 assists with 16 ground balls and ten caused turnovers, while Jahelka has contributed a team-best 60 goals with 16 assists for 76 points, 30 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers.
Junior Taylor Hayes (Rockville Center, New York/Kellenberg) has seen the majority of time in goal for Adelphi and posted a 4.64 goals against average and .451 save percentage with three saves per game in 801:44 over 17 games played.
Jahelka scored five goals and Froccaro tallied six points with four goals and two assists to lead Adelphi its 15-5 win over Stonehill in their regular season meeting in Garden City two weeks ago. O'Brien added five points with a goal and four assists, while Keesling netted a pair of goals. Vetter led the Skyhawks with two goals and an assist to go with eight draw controls, while Armstrong finished with five saves.
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2015 Northeast-10 Conference
Women's Lacrosse Tournament
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, April 29
#2 Le Moyne 18, #7 Assumption 1
#3 New Haven 13, #6 Saint Anselm 9
#1 Adelphi 16, #8 Saint Michael's 4
#4 Stonehill 15, #5 Bentley 10
Semifinals (hosted by Adelphi University; Garden City, N.Y.)
Saturday, May 2
#4 Stonehill (15-3, 10-3 NE-10) at #1 Adelphi (16-1, 12-1 NE-10), 11 a.m.
#3 New Haven (15-2, 11-2 NE-10) vs. #2 Le Moyne (16-2, 12-1 NE-10), 2 p.m.
Championship (hosted by Adelphi University; Garden City, N.Y.)
Sunday, May 3
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m.