Sophomore Erika Kelly potted her 14th and 15th goals of the season to move within five of the program's single-season record. (PHOTO BY Emily Reynolds)

Kelly and Gouveia net pair each as Skyhawks off to 8-0 start for first time in program history

EASTON, Mass. (September 28, 2013) – Stonehill College, ranked fourth in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, has won its first eight games of the season for the first time in program history after firing past Saint Michael's College, 5-1, in non-conference field hockey action at Timothy J. Coughlin Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.

Stonehill's 8-0 start surpasses the 2007 squad which won its first seven games of the season. Senior Kelly Gouveia (Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) and sophomore Erika Kelly (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) both netted a pair of goals to lead the Skyhawks, while sophomore Lauren Giordano (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) chipped in with a goal as well. Senior All-American Devin Ingersoll (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) and sophomore Elizabeth Thornton (Needham, Mass./Needham) each collected assists on the afternoon.

Junior Elizabeth Genovese (Street, Md./North Harford) finished with four saves, including three in the first half, in the Stonehill cage. The Skyhawks posted a 27-8 advantage for shots, including 17-3 in the second half, and held a 12-4 edge in penalty corners in the game.

Junior Elizabeth Genovese made three of her four saves in the first half. (PHOTO BY Emily Reynolds)

Junior Sarah Healey (Canton, Mass./Canton) posted 11 saves in goal for Saint Michael's, including seven in the second half. Senior Kelly Celata (Dedham, Mass./Dedham) scored the lone Purple Knights goal.

Kelly gave Stonehill a two goal lead with her Division II leading 14^th and 15^th markers of the season. She opened the scoring at 13:54 with a nice individual effort off a counter attack down the right side. Kelly slipped the ball past the last defender and broke in one on one with Healey before depositing a low shot into the right side. She doubled the Skyhawks lead at 24:11 during a scramble in front of the cage, chipping a loose ball past the keeper. Kelly's 15 goals in seven games played is now just five shy of Claire Hourihan's, '10, program single-season record of 20 goals set in 2008 and matched in 2009.

Saint Michael's got on the board 55-seconds before the intermission as Celata knocked in a rebound for her second goal of the season off the initial shot off a corner by sophomore Morgan Mazanec (Shelburne, Mass./Mohawk Trail Regional).

Stonehill put the match away with three second half goals, including a pair from Gouveia. She struck first at 42:21 when she redirected a long pass from outside the arc by Thornton into the cage. Giordano put the Skyhawks up 4-1, breaking a streak of four-straight 3-1 wins for the team, at 58:13 with a tip in front of Healey off a drive from the top of the arc by Ingersoll on a penalty corner. Gouveia capped the scoring with her fifth goal of the season by one-timing a loose ball in the center of the scoring area with 4:16 to play. It marks the second-straight two-goal game for the Stonehill senior.

Stonehill (8-0, 1-0 NE-10) returns to action on Tuesday night when it returns gets back into Northeast-10 play at rival Bentley University at 7 p.m. The Skyhawks next home match at W.B. Mason Stadium is next Friday night, October 4, against Assumption College at 7 p.m. Saint Michael's (2-6, 0-1 NE-10) travels to Saint Anselm College on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

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