Skyhawks defeat Warriors for first time since 1999

Sophomore Christine Moodie scored two goals for the Skyhawks pushing her team lead to five on the season.

EASTON, Mass. (October 9, 2012) – The Stonehill College women's soccer team earned a 2-1 victory over Merrimack College on Tuesday evening in Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) action on Skyhawk Field.

Sophomore midfielder Christine Moodie (Littleton, Mass./Littleton) scored both goals while junior midfielder Casey Mathews (Mattapoisett, Mass./Old Rochester Regional) and senior back and captain Allison Nagle (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) both added assists to lift the Skyhawks over the Warriors for the first time since 1999. Stonehill went 17-4 overall during the 1999 season compiling its best record in program history.

Junior captain and goalkeeper Amy Wheaton (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) made six saves to improve her record to 5-3-3 overall.

Moodie gave the Skyhawks a 1-0 lead at the 31:28 mark as she beat Merrimack junior goalkeeper Nicole Curtis (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) with a chip shot inside the box for her fourth goal of the season. Mathews initiated the tally by beating a defender for space just outside the box, near the right flank, and delivered a pass directly to Moodie's foot for the score.

After earning a free kick on a Warriors foul, Nagle helped Stonehill claim a 2-0 advantage in the 50^th minute of the contest with a beautiful cross to Moodie inside the box from about 35-yards out that was headed home inside the left post, her fifth marker of the season.

Merrimack cut its deficit in half at the 53:12 mark on a superb pass from senior midfielder Jenn Pino (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) from the right flank. Pino beat a defender near the right post and dished a low pass across the goal line to a wide open Jamie Alnwick (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable) who one-timed her shot into the back of the net.

Alnwick almost put home the equalizer for the Warriors at 89:33 blasting a shot from just outside the 18-yard line through a wall of players but Wheaton found the ball through traffic and suffocated it for her final save of the game.

Merrimack outshot Stonehill 16-11 and held a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Stonehill (5-3-3, 4-3-3 NE-10) hosts the University of Bridgeport for a non-conference matchup on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. on Skyhawk Field. Merrimack (8-5-0, 6-4-0 NE-10) travels to The College of Saint Rose, the NCAA Division national champion, on Saturday at 2 p.m.