Skyhawks advance to first NE10 semifinal appearance since 2017 behind Hughes' seven-point night as Rudden reaches third 100-point season in program history

Hughes paced the Skyhawks attack with six goals and an assist (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens)

EASTON, Mass. (May 4, 2022) – Top-seeded Stonehill College, ranked No. 8 in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) and USA Lacrosse Magazine Division II polls, outscored eighth-seeded University of New Haven, ranked No. 22 in the IWLCA poll, 10-2 in the second half to pull away for an 18-8 victory in quarterfinal round action of the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament at Timothy J. Coughlin, '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium tonight.

Stonehill (15-2, 12-1 NE10), which captured its NE10 record 12^th regular season championship, advances to this weekend semifinal round where it will host fourth-seeded Pace University (14-4, 10-3 NE10), ranked No. 12 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll and No. 13 by the IWLCA, on Saturday at W.B. Mason Stadium at 11 a.m. The Setters advanced by edging fifth-seeded and No. 18 Assumption University this evening in Westchester County.

Rudden has posted just the third 100-point season in program history after adding a goal and assist tonight (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens)

Sophomore Molly Mae Hughes paced the Stonehill attack with six goals and an assist for seven points. Junior Lydia Rudden chipped in with a goal and assist on the night to become just the third in program history to reach the 100-point mark in a season. She joins Jenny McGrath, '06 (110 points in 2006) and head coach Katie (Lambert) Conover, '03 (104 pts in 2002) in recording 100-points in a season and is the 16^th in NE10 history to reach the plateau.

Scoring

Stonehill
Goals: Molly Mae Hughes 6, Kendall Fressle 4, Victoria Butler 3, Emma Sullivan 2, Kayla Conway, Lydia Rudden, Lilly Leach.
Assists: Emma Sullivan 3, Kayla Conway, Molly Mae Hughes, Lydia Rudden.

New Haven
Goals: Annie Acquavita 3, Reagan Bailey 3, Mary Rishmany, Cypress Levitt.
Assists: Mary Rishmany 2, Annie Acquavita, Julia Astram. 

Goalkeeping
Stonehill: Sarah Faley – 9 saves (60:00).
New Haven: Gabby Buscemi – 7 saves (60:00). 

More Leaders

Stonehill
Caused Turnovers: Victoria Butler 4.
Draw Controls: Lilly Leach 14.
Ground Balls: Mallory Crispens 7. 

New Haven
Caused Turnovers: Justine Doyle 4.
Draw Controls: Gianna Caprioli 8.
Ground Balls: Cypress Leavitt 6. 

Fressle scored four goals for the Skyhawks (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens)

How it Happened

• Stonehill scored the first two goals of the game, from senior preseason All-American Emma Sullivan and Hughes, over the first five minutes.
• The teams traded goals for the remainder of the opening frame, with Hughes capping the first quarter scoring with her second with 17-seconds left. Sullivan contributed a goal and assist in the frame, while junior Annie Acquavita scored two of the Chargers first three goals.
• Acquavita's third of the game opened the second quarter to pull New Haven back within a goal (5-4) less than six minutes into the frame, but Stonehill followed with a three-goal spurt in which Hughes had a hand in all three markers to extended the Skyhawks lead to four (8-4) with 2:37 remaining until halftime.
• The Chargers trimmed their deficit to two (8-6) at the intermission, but Stonehill scored the first five goals of the second half from four different players to extend the cushion to seven (13-6) after senior Kendall Fressle scored her second goal of the run with 6:46 left in the third.
• New Haven scored two of the final three goals in the third quarter to trim its deficit to six (14-8) with 19-seconds left.
• Fressle scored the first two goals of the fourth to finish off her four-goal game as the Skyhawks closed the game out by outscoring New Haven 10-2 in the second half to break the game open.
• Rudden scored a goal, assisted by Sullivan, with 4:26 to play for her 100^th career point, before Hughes capped her six-goal night with 3:29 to play as the Skyhawks outscored the chargers 4-0 in the fourth.

Faley made nine saves in the win (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens)

Noteworthy

• Stonehill dominated possession, posting a 21-9 advantage in draw controls, led by sophomore Lilly Leach with a career-high 14, while Sullivan collected six to give her an NE10-leading 122 for the season to rank second in program history behind Ann Signorella '02 who collected 168 draws in 2001.
• Hughes finished with six goals for the second-straight game for Stonehill, producing multiple points in the last five, delivering seven goals in a win over Southern Connecticut State University on April 20.
• Fressle added four goals for Stonehill, while junior defender Victoria Butler scored three times and forced a team-high four caused turnovers.
• Sullivan finished with two goals and three assists for five points, giving her multiple goals in six-straight games and 16 games this season overall. She also filled the boxscore with six draws, four ground balls and three caused turnovers. Sullivan has tallied 207 draws for her career – just the third to reach 200 draws in program history and now ranks second all-time behind Kelsey Reilly's '13 program record 313.
• Rudden chipped in a goal and assist, giving her an NE10-leading 64 for the year to inch within two of Stonehill's single-season record of 66 by Jenny McGrath '06 in 2006.
• Rudden has totaled 53 goals and 93 assists for 146 points in just 30 career games, ranking sixth in program history for career assists.
• Freshman Sarah Faley registered nine saves in the Stonehill goal, including six in the first half. Sophomore Gabby Buscemi finished with seven saves for New Haven.
• Acquavita led New Haven with three goals and an assist, while freshman Reagan Bailey scored three and postgrad Mary Rishmany scored a goal and dished two assists.
• Stonehill has reached 15 wins for the first time since finishing 15-5 in 2015 in 2015.
• Stonehill has won 12 NE10 matches for the first time in program history, surpassing ten wins on six occasions.
• Stonehill held at No. 2 in this week's NCAA Division II East Region rankings released on Wednesday afternoon.
• Stonehill inched up one spot to No. 8 in this week's IWLCA Division II poll, holding at No. 8 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll.

Up Next

Stonehill will host fourth-seeded Pace for one of two NE10 semifinal matches on Saturday at 11 a.m. Second-seeded Adelphi University (16-1, 12-1 NE10) and third-seeded Le Moyne College (14-4, 10-3 NE10) will square off in the other semifinal that will be played at Bentley University on Saturday at 11 a.m. Stonehill will host the NE10 Championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m. Adelphi edged seventh-seeded Bentley 8-6 in their quarterfinal on Wednesday, while Le Moyne breezed past sixth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University, 20-10.

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