McCarthy's Natural Hat Trick Sparks Incredible Second Half Comeback, Connors Nets Late Game-Winner As Women's Soccer Notches Improbable 7-6 Northeast-10 Victory At American International
October 5, 2005
STONEHILL WOMEN’S SOCCER
Wednesday, October 5, 2005
AIC Park, Springfield, Mass.
FINAL: STONEHILL 7, AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL 6
1 2 Total
Stonehill (7-2-2, 5-2-2 Northeast-10) 1 6 - 7
American International (1-9-1, 0-8-1 Northeast-10) 5 1 - 6
SCORING SUMMARY
AIC: Valantein Burson (Unassisted) 3:53 1st
AIC: Stacey Italiano (Lindsey Wolfe) 12:23 1st
AIC: Italiano (Caitlin Mooney) 15:18 1st
STO: Caitlin Green (Lauren Boyd) 18:52 1st
AIC: Burson (Wolfe) 20:24 1st
AIC: Mooney (Unassisted) 35:15 1st
AIC: Joanne Germano (Italiano) 45:34 2nd
STO: Kate McCarthy (Hilary Eckhardt) 48:34 2nd
STO: McCarthy (H. Eckhardt) 50:13 2nd
STO: McCarthy (Unassisted) 64:25 2nd
STO: Meghan O’Brien (Unassisted) 65:46 2nd
STO: O’Brien (Unassisted) 83:38 2nd
STO: Janine Connors (Boyd) 86:30 2nd
GOALIE SAVES
STO: Amanda McGeachey—0, Alex Eckhardt—4
AIC: Danielle Hodecker—6
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-- Freshman Janine Connors’s (Holliston, Mass.) goal with 3:30 remaining capped an incredible second half comeback and lifted Stonehill to a 7-6 Northeast-10 Conference women’s soccer victory over American International Wednesday afternoon at AIC Park.
The visiting Skyhawks (7-2-2, 5-2-2 Northeast-10) trailed by a 6-1 margin just 34 seconds into the second half of action before mounting the largest comeback in school history, as senior Kate McCarthy (North Easton, Mass.) single-handedly led the charge by netting a natural hat trick in a 16-minute span that enabled Stonehill to close back to within a pair at 6-4 in the 64th minute of play. Sophomore Meghan O’Brien (Stow, Mass.) took over the scoring role from McCarthy that enabled the visitors to even matters at 6-6, as she scored just 1:11 after McCarthy’s third marker and netted the tying goal with 6:22 to play. Connors then notched her first collegiate tally on a feed from sophomore Lauren Boyd (Sandwich, Mass.) in the 86th minute to cap Stonehill’s improbable comeback.
The host Yellow Jackets (1-9-1, 0-8-1 Northeast-10) jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead just 15:18 into the match on a pair of goals by junior Stacey Italiano (Lake Grove, N.Y.) and a single tally from junior Valantein Burson (Stoughton, Mass.), and after junior Caitlin Green (Bedford, N.H.) put the Skyhawks on the board in the 18th minute of action, markers by Burson and sophomore Caitlin Mooney (Wilbraham, Mass.) extended American International’s lead to 5-1 at the break. Sophomore Joanne Germano (West Springfield, Mass.) then scored just 34 seconds after intermission to give the hosts their 6-1 edge, but it would prove to be the final Yellow Jacket tally of the contest, as McCarthy subsequently sparked Stonehill’s comeback.
Boyd and sophomore Hilary Eckhardt (Marshfield, Mass.) each notched a pair of assists in the win for Stonehill, while junior Lindsey Wolfe (Westfield, Mass.) collected a pair of helpers in the setback for American International, which also received single assists from Mooney and Italiano.
Sophomore Alex Eckhardt (Marshfield, Mass.) came off the bench to pick up the win in goal for Stonehill with a four-save effort over 74-plus minutes of action, while freshman Danielle Hodecker (West Springfield, Mass.) made six stops in net for American International as each team had 19 shots on goal for the contest.
Stonehill hosts Southern New Hampshire in a Northeast-10 outing on Saturday afternoon at Skyhawk Field beginning at 2:00 p.m., while American International will be idle until next Wednesday evening when the Yellow Jackets travel to North Andover, Mass. to take on Merrimack in a Northeast-10 match that begins at 7:00 p.m.