Senior Ashley Armstrong looks to build off her third-straight NE-10 All-Championship Team performance last weekend. (PHOTO BY Marcello Cutti, Jr./Startlight Media) |
Fourth-seeded Skyhawks making eighth NCAA Tournament appearance
BROCKTON ENTERPRISE: "Stonehill Lacrosse Team Faces Tough NCAA Tournament Assignment
EASTON, Mass. (May 8, 2015) – Fourth-seeded Stonehill College, ranked sixth in the most recent Nike/Lacrosse Magazine Top 20 and seventh in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll, will be looking to make its third meeting of the season with North Region top-seeded Adelphi University, ranked No. 2 in both national polls, the charm in their NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Tournament quarterfinal round matchup at Motamed Field in Garden City, New York, on Saturday at noon.
Admission for tomorrow's game is $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for senior citizens and children and $2.00 for students with valid college ID. A free live webcast will be available via www.aupanthers.tv with links also available, along with live stats via www.stonehillskyhawks.com.
The winner of tomorrow's national quarterfinal will advance to the NCAA Division II Final Four, hosted by Roanoke College, at Kerr Stadium in Roanoke, Virginia, May 16-17 where it will meet the winner of Saturday's other North Region national quarterfinal in Syracuse, New York, between third-seeded University of New Haven (15-3, 11-2 NE-10) and second-seeded Le Moyne College (16-3, 12-1 NE-10). The NCAA North Regional is an exact rematch of the two Northeast-10 Conference semifinals played at Motamed Field last weekend. Adelphi emerged with its fifth NE-10 Tournament Championship last weekend after wins over Stonehill (14-5) and Le Moyne (14-5).
Stonehill (15-4, 10-3 NE-10) is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and second over the last three years. The Skyhawks have won a pair of national championships, the first of which came when head coach Katie (Lambert) Conover, '03 was a senior All-American, with the second coming ten years ago in 2005. Stonehill also earned NCAA Tournament bids in 2001, '02, '03, '05, '07, '10 and '13, reaching the finals three times and the semifinals five. Adelphi (18-1, 12-1 NE-10) is the defending Division II National Champion and makes its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance, having won a Division II record six national championships (2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 & 2014).
Sophomore Cara Corvino will spearhead the defensive effort tomorrow (PHOTO BY Marcello Cutti, Jr./Starlight Media) |
Stonehill, making its third NCAA appearance under Conover, enters the NCAA Tournament having gone 3-4 over its last seven after winning its first 12 games for the first time since 2007. The Skyhawks are ranked fourth in the Northeast-10 in team goals against average (8.01) and fifth in scoring (12.89 goals per game), while ranking second for draw controls (263), third for shooting percentage (.504) and fourth for caused turnovers (133).
Nine seniors provide the leadership for a team which saw five earn All-Northeast-10 honors this spring. Senior Ashley Armstrong (Northborough, Massachusetts/Algonquin Regional), a second team Alll-NE-10 pick and the program's career saves leader with 526, is just a win shy of setting a new career victories mark. Armstrong has played all 1,146 minutes in the Skyhawks goal this season and ranks sixth among NE-10 leaders with an 8.01 goals against average and third with a .469 save percentage, averaging 7.1 saves per game.
A pair of All-Northeast-10 underclassmen in sophomore Cara Corvino (Dorset, Vermont/Burr and Burton Academy) and freshman Kelly Healey (Westwood, Massachusetts/Westwood) as well as senior Grace Hazelwood (West Simsbury, Connecticut/West Simsbury) and junior Remi DiRe (Winchester, Massachusetts/Winchester) 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. Healey is third on the team with 24 draw controls.
Senior Brooke Rudden (Hopkinton, Massachusetts/Hopkinton), an All-Northeast-10 selection as a junior, is Stonehill's top playmaker with a team-high 66 points (7th NE-10) on 18 goals and a team-best 48 assists (3rd), which is the second-highest assist total in program history. She also ranks fifth all-time in program history with 97 career assists. Classmate Elizabeth Lane (Sandwich, Massachusetts/Bishop Stang), an All-NE-10 first team pick, leads the Skyhawks with 40 goals (11th), while adding eight assists for 48 points to go with a team-high 44 ground balls (12th) and 25 caused turnovers (8th) with 60 draw controls (9th).
Senior Lizzie Lane will be a key two-way player for the Skyhawks on Saturday. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Senior co-captain Cassandra McGill (Westborough, Massachusetts/Westborough) is third on the team in scoring with 47 points, having posted 29 goals and 18 assists (11th), while sophomore Elizabeth Vetter (Great River, New York/East Islip), an All-Conference second team selection, has contributed 37 goals and four assists for 41 points with a team-high 80 draw controls (4th).
Adelphi enters the NCAA Tournament winners of its last four 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 (16.4 gpg), goals against average (5.05), draw controls (301) and caused turnovers (228).
Senior Alexa Froccaro (Port Washington, New York/Port Washington) leads Adelphi in scoring with 87 points on a team-high 65 goals to go with 22 assists, 28 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers. Junior Rachel O'Brien (Bayport, New York/Bayport-Blue Point) is second on the team with 85 points on 36 goals and a team-high 49 assists with 18 ground balls and ten caused turnovers, while sophomore Jacqueline Jahelka (Garden City, New York/Garden City) has contributed 63 goals and 18 assists for 81 points, 33 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers.
Junior Taylor Hayes (Rockville Center, New York/Kellenberg) has seen the majority of time in goal for Adelphi and posted a 4.69 goals against average and .459 save percentage with 3.2 saves per game in 921:44 over 19 games played.
Stonehill and Adelphi will meet for the second straight week and third time in four weeks with Saturday's national quarterfinal. The Panthers won the first two encounters between the two with a 15-5 regular season win on April 18 and then a 14-5 victory in last Saturday's NE-10 semifinal. The Panthers have won the last 14 meetings between the two programs and Saturday will mark the third NCAA Tournament meeting between the two, having split the previous two encounters. Tomorrow marks the 22nd meeting all-time between these two programs, the eighth in postseason play and third in the NCAA Tournament. Adelphi holds a 16-5 advantage in the all-time series, having won five of the six previous postseason matchups. The Panthers posted a 15-10 victory in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, while the Skyhawks won the first NCAA Tournament encounter, 16-10, on their way to a second national championship in 2005.
Froccaro and Jahelka have both led Adelphi with ten points on eight goals and two assists each over its two wins against Stonehill this season. Froccaro has also contributed two caused turnovers and O'Brien has chipped in nine points with three goals and six assists over the two games. Hayes has posted a 4.55 goals against average against the Skyhawks with a .562 save percentage and 4.5 saves per game. Rudden and Vetter have both posted a team-high five points for Stonehill against the Panthers this season with Vetter posting four goals and an assist with 12 draw controls, while Rudden has dished four assists and added a goal.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.
2015 NCAA Division II
Women's Lacrosse Championships
North Region
Quarterfinal Round
Saturday, May 9
#4 Stonehill (15-4, 10-3 NE-10) at #1 Adelphi (18-1, 12-1 NE-10), Noon
#3 New Haven (15-3, 11-2 NE-10) at #2 Le Moyne (16-3, 12-1 NE-10), Noon
South Region
Quarterfinal Round
Saturday, May 9
#3 Florida Southern (19-3) at Lindenwood (18-1), 1 p.m.
#4 Rollins (13-4) at #1 Lock Haven (18-0), 2 p.m.
Semifinals (hosted by Roanoke College, Roanoke, Va.)
Saturday, May 16
North Region winners, 11 a.m.
South Region winners, 3 p.m.
Championship (hosted by Roanoke College, Roanoke, Va.)
Sunday, May 17
Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.