Junior Laura Menke scored Stonehill's lone goal this afternoon. (PHOTO BY Bob Blanchard) |
River Hawks win sixth tournament title behind two Macy goals
UMass Lowell (22-0, 10-0 NE-10) wins its first tournament title since 2007 when it won its final in a string of five-straight championships and earns the Northeast-10 Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championships to be announced tomorrow. Stonehill (15-6, 9-1 NE-10) is also likely to receive an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Division II Selection Show will be broadcast live on www.ncaa.com, with a link also available via www.stonehillskyhawks.com, at 9 a.m.
UMass Lowell senior Liz Day (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament and she was joined on the All-Championship team by teammates Sammy Macy (Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury) and Kayla Littig (Carver, Mass./Carver). Representing Stonehill on the All-Championship team are senior back Laura Noce (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) and junior forward Kathryn Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury).
Macy led the offensive charge for UMass Lowell with two goals. Senior Katie Enaire (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury), junior Annie Hansbury (Plaistow, N.H./Timberlane Regional) and freshman Rachel McCarthy (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) all contributed a goal and assist for the River Hawks, while Littig chipped in with a goal as well.
Senior Laura Noce was named to the All-Championship team. |
Junior Laura Menke (Greenland, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas) scored the lone goal for Stonehill, which was out-shot 25-1 by UMass Lowell for the afternoon, mustering just two penalty corners as well, compared to 11 for the hosts. Senior Courtney Osier (South Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) finished with eight saves in 61:27 in the Skyhawks goal this afternoon before giving way to sophomore Kaitlyn Curtis (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) who made one stop in the final 8:33.
UMass Lowell opened the scoring on just its second shot of the day off its first corner when Hansbury netted her fourth of the year off a pass from Day at the eight minute mark. The River Hawks doubled their lead just 3:29 later when Macy scored her first of the day from the top of the arc off a McCarthy pass at 11:29. UML added a third in a 6:07 span off a corner when McCarthy scored her 11th of the year off a pass from Hansbury at 14:07.
Stonehill showed some life 9:47 into the second half when Menke scored her fifth of the season from the center of the arc off a pass from senior Michaela Deasy (North Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth) at 44:47.
Unfortunately that would prove to be Stonehill's lone shot of the day and UMass Lowell put the game away with three more goals in an 11-minute span late in regulation. Macy scored her 30th of the year when she put away her own rebound at 57:17. Littig added her first of the season at 64:37 off a feed from Enaire who rounded out the scoring with her 28th of the year at 68:09.
