Healey led the Skyhawks with five points, including four during the game deciding 6-1 run in the second half. (PHOTO BY Denise Archetto) |
Kaitlin Healey leads Skyhawks with five points, including four during deciding run
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. (April 27, 2017) – Stonehill College, ranked 18th in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll, used a 6-1 run in the second half to close out a 15-11 victory over Merrimack College in Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse action at Martone-Mejail Field tonight.
Stonehill's (10-6, 9-3 NE10) win sets up a key Senior Night showdown with Pace University (11-4, 9-3 NE10), ranked 11th in the IWLCA Division II poll and 16th in this week's Nike/US Lacrosse Magazine poll, at W.B. Mason Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m. The winner of that game will turn around and host the other in a quick rematch in the quarterfinals of the NE10 Tournament next Wednesday, May 3. Merrimack (4-12, 2-10 NE10) caps its regular season at Assumption College on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Freshmen Kaitlin Healey (Westwood, Massachusetts/Westwood), MacKenzie Pleshaw (Franklin, Massachusetts/Franklin) and Jennifer Wheaton (Dartmouth, Massachusetts/Dartmouth) led the way for Stonehill in its sixth straight NE10 win. Healey totaled a season-high five points with two goals and a season-best three assists, adding two draw controls, while Pleshaw and Wheaton netted three goals each. Pleshaw also tallied two ground balls, a draw control and caused turnover, while Wheaton collected two draws.
Senior Shannon Booth (Pearl River, New York/Nanuet) also scored three goals for Stonehill, while junior Taylor Shannahan (Mendham, New Jersey/Morris Catholic) contributed two goals and an assist for three points, while adding three ground balls, a draw and two caused turnovers. Junior Brianna Doherty (Walpole, Massachusetts/Walpole) also totaled three points with a goal and two assists for the Skyhawks.
Freshman Bailey Grant (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) preserved the win with nine saves to improve to 6-3 in the Stonehill goal. Sophomore Lauren Trepaney (Amherst, New Hampshire/Bishop Guertin) finished with nine saves over 52:40 in the Merrimack goal.
Wheaton scored three goals, including two in the first half as the Skyhawks opened their first five goal lead. (PHOTO BY Denise Archetto) |
Sophomore Bridget Schofield (Littleton, Massachusetts/Littleton) led Merrimack with three goals, four ground balls and four caused turnovers, while sophomore Amber Feminella (Cortlandt Manor, New York/Hendrick Hudson) and freshman Kyra Schwartzman (Kennebunk, Maine/Kennebunk) each netted two goals. Feminella also collected four draw controls, while Schwartzman tallied three draws and a ground ball. Freshman Ally DeCosta (New Bedford, Massachusetts/St. Mary Academy-Bay View) chipped in with a goal and assist.
Stonehill scored the first three goals of the game, the first two off the stick of Pleshaw, on its way to a 5-1 advantage ten minutes into the contest following goals from Booth and Wheaton just 27-seconds apart. After a free-position goal by Schwartzman with 17:18 remaining in the half, the Skyhawks extended their lead to five (7-2) with Wheaton's second marker of the night with 13:48 left in the frame.
Merrimack closed out the half with four straight goals, including a pair from Feminella, to pull back within a goal (7-6) at the intermission. Wheaton's third of the game, assisted by Doherty, opened the second half scoring and restored a two goal cushion for Stonehill four minutes in. The Warriors pulled even less than seven minutes into the half after back to back goals from freshman Olivia Colletti (Massapequa, New York/Massapequa) and DeCosta.
Stonehill regained control from there, with Healey having a hand in the next three goals with a goal and two assists, as the Skyhawks used a 6-1 run to reclaim a five goal lead (14-9) after Booth's second goal of the night with 7:20 left. Healey finished with two goals and two assists in all during the deciding run. Schofield netted two straight goals to draw Merrimack back within three (14-11) with 3:55 remaining, but Booth capped the scoring with her 27th goal of the year with 31-seconds left.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.