Leach leads Skyhawks with career-high nine points, including 100^th of career, with career-best seven goals

Leach posted career-high totals of seven goals, two assists and nine points, reaching the 100-point mark for her career in today's win (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

EASTON, Mass. (March 30, 2024) – Stonehill College pushed back above .500 in Northeast Conference play with a dominant 24-3 triumph over Central Connecticut State University in an NEC women's lacrosse matchup on Timothy J. Coughlin, '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.

Senior Lilly Leach powered Stonehill to its largest margin of victory in its NCAA Division I era with a career-high nine points, including the 100^th of her career, by scoring a career-best seven goals with a career-high matching two assists. She also collected seven draw controls in the contest and has now totaled 87 goals and 13 assists for her 100 points in 48 career games played, while her 271 career draws ranks third all-time, six behind former teammate and All-American Emma Sullivan, '22 (276) for second, having collected an NEC-best 83 so far this year – good for eighth on the program's all-time single-season list.

Senior Molly Mae Hughes added six points with four goals and two assists, drawing within two points of becoming the program's 16^th 200-point scorer (129-69), adding a career-best six draw controls and four ground balls, with a caused turnover. Sophomore Grace Murphy netted four goals for the Skyhawks, while senior Abby Ahearn added a career-best three goals with an assist for a career-high four points. Sophomore Natalie Coutu chipped in with two goals and two assists for four points.

Hughes added six points with four goals and two assists this afternoon, cracking the program's career assists top ten (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Senior Claire Smith and freshman Nina Tremonte split the goalkeeping duties for Stonehill, with Smith earning the win with two first half saves, yielding just one goal, before Tremonte added two stops in the second half.

Senior Kya Risher finished with eight first half saves in the Central Connecticut State goal. Classmate Lauren Valluzzi was among three different goal scorers for the Blue Devils, adding two draw controls and two ground balls.

How it Happened

• Stonehill scored the first seven goals of the contest, including four in the opening five minutes to grab immediate control of the contest.
• Leach scored two of her three first quarter goals in the opening 1:36, giving Stonehill the lead just ten seconds into the contest after winning the opening draw. She followed that up with her second goal just 1:36 later and only 34-seconds after Murphy had given the Skyhawks a two-goal lead 62-seconds in.
• Hughes scored back-to-back goals for Stonehill eight and a half minutes apart to extend the lead to six goals with 44-seconds remaining in the opening frame, before Leach closed out the quarter scoring with 10-seconds left with her third of the game.
• Senior Brienna Bernier broke up the run with her seventh goal of the season 65-seconds into the second quarter for CCSU's first goal and lone goal over the first 50-minutes of the contest.
• Murphy followed with consecutive goals 1:23 apart to extend Stonehill's lead to eight goals (9-1) three minutes into the second quarter.
• Hughes added her third of the day 49-seconds after Murphy's second and then Ahearn scored all three of her goals on the day consecutively and within a four-minute span with Hughes assisting on the first to run Stonehill's lead into double-figures (13-1) with five minutes to pay in the half.

• Murphy also netted four goals for the Skyhawks this afternoon (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

  Leach followed with her fourth of the afternoon with 3:50 left in the half before junior Sofia D'Agostino closed out the first half scoring with 2:05 to go for a 14-goal (15-1) halftime advantage.
• Stonehill continued to pull away in the second half, extending its lead to the final 21-goal margin (22-1) after Leach's sixth of the afternoon with 10:30 left in the fourth quarter and she secured her 100^th career point with her seventh goal of the day with five minutes to play.

Noteworthy

• Hughes has multiple goals in seven-straight games and nine of Stonehill's ten games overall this season. She enters next weekend's game two points shy of 200 for her career with 129 goals and 69 assists for 198 points in 56 career games.
• Hughes moved into tenth place on Stonehill's career assists list with 69, moving past Kristin Darrell, '08 (68) and two behind Ann Signorella, '02 (71) for ninth.
• Leach has scored multiple goals in six of the last seven games and seven games this season overall.
• Coutu posted multiple assists for the ninth time in ten games this year.
• Freshman Cameron Flaherty produced her first career multi-goal game with her career-high two markers.

Up Next

Stonehill (4-6, 3-2 NEC) is off until next Saturday when it visits Wagner College for a key NEC matchup on Staten Island, New York, at noon. The Skyhawks return to W.B. Mason Stadium on Wednesday, April 10, to host LIU at 4 p.m., to open a four-game homestand. Central Connecticut State (2-8, 2-4 NEC) visits Saint Francis University next Saturday at 1 p.m.

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