Shannahan broke the program's single-season record for ground balls today. (PHOTO BY Mike Tureski/SportsPix) |
Putnam posts 11 saves to preserve Purple Knights victory
COLCHESTER, Vt. (April 25, 2018) – Saint Michael's College dashed Stonehill College's postseason hopes by hanging on for a 10-9 victory in Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse action at Duffy Field this afternoon.
Freshman Victoria Putnam (East Falmouth, Massachusetts/Saint Mark's School) made 11 saves to preserve Saint Michael's first win over Stonehill since the 1999 NE10 Championship, also collecting three ground balls. Junior Annie Martin (Mattapoisett, Massachusetts/Bishop Stang) also keyed the win by leading a Purple Knights team that controlled draws by a 13-8 margin, with six draws, adding three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
Junior Alex Vincent (Rush, New York/Our Lady of Mercy) posted three points with two goals and an assist, while senior Kealy Moyna (Yonkers, New York/The Ursuline School) totaled three points with a goal and two assists. Senior Ashley Dineen (Somers, New York/Canterbury School) added two goals, three draws and two caused turnovers, while freshmen Ashley Turner (Monkton, Vermont/Mount Abraham Union) and Olivia Krause (Bow, New Hampshire/Bow) each netted a pair of goals. Sophomore Kaelyn Oliver (Canton, Connecticut/Canton) chipped in with two assists.
Senior Taylor Shannahan (Mendham, New Jersey/Morris Catholic) led Stonehill with three goals and an assist for four points, while contributing four ground balls and two caused turnovers. Her four ground balls give her 69 for the season, breaking the program's single-season record of 68 set by Ann Signorella '02 and Stonehill Hall of Famer Amy Bartlett '02 in 2001.
Hughes scored a pair of goals for the Skyhawks (PHOTO BY Mike Tureski/SportsPix) |
Freshman Shannon Hughes (Franklin Square, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) added two goals, three ground balls and four caused turnovers for Stonehill. Senior Brianna Doherty (Walpole, Massachusetts/Walpole) and sophomore MacKenzie Pleshaw (Franklin, Massachusetts/Franklin) each contributed a goal and assist for the Skyhawks, while Doherty collected three draw controls. Sophomore Bailey Grant (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) finished with five saves in the Skyhawks goal.
Stonehill grabbed a two goal lead ten minutes into the game on goals from Doherty and Hughes, but Saint Michael's responded by scoring four of the next five, including a run of three-straight to take the lead (4-3) after a Krause goal with 5:19 left in the half. Moyna's two assists both came during that stretch in which four different Purple Knights scored. Shannahan knotted the score with a free-position goal less than a minute later, but Moyna gave Saint Michael's the halftime lead with her 29th goal of the year with 30-seconds left.
Turner doubled the Saint Michael's lead 53-seconds into the second half off a feed from Vincent and the Purple Knights opened the final half hour by scoring three of the first four goals in the half to open a three goal lead on Vincent's second goal of the game, assisted by Oliver with 17:43 to play. The Purple Knights lead was still three (10-7) after Turner's sixth goal of the year, but Shannahan and senior All-American Kelly Healey (Westwood, Massachusetts/Westwood) each potted free-position goals to pull back within one with 1:28 remaining.
Saint Michael's won the ensuing draw, but Hughes forced a turnover with 47-seconds left to five Stonehill a chance to force overtime. However, the Skyhawks committed a turnover themselves, caused by Martin, with 31-seconds to go and the Purple Knights ran the clock out from there.
The loss ends Stonehill's chances of earning an NE10 record 20th-straight trip to the NE10 Tournament. The Skyhawks now sit two games adrift of Saint Anselm College and Assumption College in the standings with one game to play for the Hawks and Greyhounds.
Stonehill (6-9, 5-8 NE10) is right back in action on Friday, when it visits Saint Thomas Aquinas College at 4 p.m. Saint Michael's (2-12, 2-10 NE10) hosts No. 3 Le Moyne College on Saturday at noon.
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