Senior forward Claire Hourihan scored both goals to lead the 6th-ranked Skyhawks past #8 Bentley tonight. |
#6 Stonehill Drops #8 Bentley, 2-1
Hourihan scores both Skyhawk goals, moves into second on Stonehill's career scoring list
EASTON, Mass. (September 22, 2009) - Senior forward Claire Hourihan (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville North) scored both goals to lead Stonehill College, ranked sixth in this week's Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, to a 2-1 victory over 8th-ranked Bentley University in a key Northeast-10 Conference field hockey matchup at W.B. Mason Stadium tonight.
Hourihan scored a goal in each half, netting the deciding goal 12:30 into the second half after a sustained period of pressure by the Stonehill attack. Junior midfielder Courtney Foley (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial) fired a cross into the center of the arc from the right side that Bentley senior goalkeeper Alyssa Sliney (Brewster, Mass./Nauset Regional) tried to clear, but lost the ball in her pads. The ball squirted behind Sliney and Hourihan pounced and knocked the loose ball into the cage and send Stonehill on its way to its eighth-straight win.
The goal is Hourihan's Northeast-10 leading 11th of the season and with her team-best 23 points this season moves into second place on Stonehill's career scoring list. Her 97 career points passes Aly Boulis who totaled 95 points from 2004-2007. Hourihan is also now just two goals shy of Boulis on the program's career goals list with 40.
Senior back Stephanie Kott dished an assist and led a Skyhawks defense that limited Bentley to just two shots on goal - none in the second half. |
Hourihan opened the scoring 5:07 into the contest when she took a pass from senior Stephanie Kott (Rutland, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) off a penalty corner from junior Lindsay Pinkham (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan Regional) and blasted a shot past Sliney from five yards out. Hourihan has scored eight goals over Stonehill's last three games.
Bentley equalized just 36-seconds before halftime when freshman Nicole Dion (Lunenburg, Mass./Lunenburg) broke a play in the Stonehill backline and broke down the left side and connected with senior Abby DeMusis (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) for her second goal of the season.
Sliney finished with four saves in goal for Bentley, but the defensive star for the Falcons was senior back Jenna Panzone (East Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth) who made three defensive saves to keep the Falcons in the match. Two came on back-to-back scoring attempts from close range five minutes into the second half, with the third coming with less than ten minutes left in regulation off a penalty corner to keep the Bentley deficit at a goal.
Junior goalkeeper Courtney Osier (South Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) finished with one stop in goal for Stonehill as the Skyhawks finished with a 12-6 advantage in shots for the night, including an 8-2 margin in the second half. While Osier saw her shutout steak halted at 205:32 with Bentley's first half goal, she has conceded just three goals over her last 498:04 (0.42 GAA).
Stonehill (8-2, 2-0 NE-10) has a week off before returning to action next Wednesday, September 30, at American International College at 7 p.m. The Skyhawks next home game is Friday, October 9, when it hosts Saint Anselm College at 4 p.m. Bentley (6-3, 1-1 NE-10) hosts Franklin Pierce University on Saturday at 1 p.m.
