Junior All-American Erika Kelly scored a pair of goals to lead the Skyhawks past Adelphi in Thursday's NE-10 semifinal. (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix) |
2nd-seeded Skyhawks seek revenge for last year's NE-10 Championship loss
EASTON, Mass. (November 21, 2013) – Second-seeded Stonehill College, ranked fifth in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, and top-seeded and No. 4-ranked LIU Post will square off for the Northeast-10 Conference Field Hockey Championship for the second-straight year at Bethpage Federal Credit Union on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Admission is $6.00 for adults, $4.00 for senior citizens and children and $1.00 for students of participating institutions with a valid ID. The game will also be webcast live free of charge via www.northeast10.tv with links to that as well as live stats available via www.stonehillskyhawks.com.
Stonehill (16-3, 9-2 NE-10), participating in its 17th NE-10 Tournament, and LIU Post (16-2, 10-1 NE-10), in its second straight NE-10 Tournament since joining the Conference as an associate member, will be meeting to decide the NE-10 Champion for the second straight year after the Pioneers claimed a 2-1 victory in Brookville, New York, last season. Both teams will be seeking their second NE-10 Championship, with the Skyhawks winning the title in 2005 and also appearing in the Championship in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2013.
Stonehill advanced to the championship with a 3-1 victory over third-seeded and No. 7-ranked Adelphi University at W.B. Mason Stadium on Thursday. Junior All-American Erika Kelly (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) scored a pair of goals, while classmate Elizabeth Thornton (Needham, Massachusetts/Needham) added a marker in the win. Senior Elizabeth Genovese (Street, Maryland/North Harford) made five saves to preserve the win in goal for the Skyhawks. LIU Post cruised to a 4-0 semifinal round win over fourth-seeded American International College yesterday, with junior Keliann Margiotta (Sewell, New Jersey/Washington Township) leading the way with three goals and an assist for seven points to become the program's career leader for points and assists.
Stonehill is making its fourth NE-10 Championship game appearance under head coach Shelly Morris, who enters tomorrow's game one win shy of 100 over her seven seasons at the College. The Skyhawks are winners of three straight and eight of nine after their NE-10 semifinal win over Adelphi and rank second in the NE-10 for scoring (3rd nationally) with 3.6 goals per game, while ranking fourth with a 1.72 team goals against average (11th) and second with 10.7 penalty corners per game (6th). The Skyhawks have the fifth-best winning percentage in NCAA Division II and also rank fourth nationally for scoring margin (+1.9 goals per game).
Sophomore Sarah Morse is a key member of the Skyhawks defensive unit and leads the Skyhawks with 11 assists this fall. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Kelly, the all-time leading scorer in program history with 151 points and a school-record 71 career goals, leads Stonehill with 25 goals and five assists for 55 points this fall, ranking second in the NE-10 and nationally in Division II for goals and points. She has netted a team-high five game winning goals, which ranks fourth in the NE-10.
While Kelly has scored over a third of Stonehill's goals this season, the Skyhawks have ten goal-scorers this season overall, including a pair with double-figure goals to date. Junior Lauren Giordano (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) has contributed 11 goals (9th NE-10), including four gamewinners, and four assists (5th) for 26 points (10th), while freshman Alexandria Sylvia (Brockton, Massachusetts/Brockton) has chipped in ten goals (11th) and an assist for 21 points (16th) in her first collegiate season. Sophomore Sarah Morse (Westminster, Massachusetts/Oakmont Regional) leads the Skyhawks with 11 assists (3rd) to go with two goals for 15 points, while senior All-American Emily Sideris (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) has posted five goals and three assists for 13 points in 15 games.
Genovese, who earned NE-10 Goalkeeper of the Week honors on Monday, has played all but 65:42 in the Stonehill cage this fall and registered a 1.65 goals against average (3rd) and .760 save percentage (7th) with five saves per game (9th) and four shutouts (2nd) in 1,274:13 (4th) over 19 starts. She has aided by a strong back line of senior Emily Coholan (South Dennis, Massachusetts/Dennis-Yarmouth), a two-time NE-10 Defensive Player of the Week, junior Maggie Travers (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) and Morse.
LIU Post enters Saturday's NE-10 Championship winners of nine straight after its loss to Stonehill on October 17. The Pioneers lead the Conference in scoring (4.4 goals/gm), team goals against average (1.05) and penalty corners (11.5/gm), having posted seven shutouts this fall.
Senior Elizabeth Genovese looks to lead the Skyhawks to the NE-10 title on Saturday. (PHOTO BY Jan Volk/SportsPix) |
Margiotta is the top scorer in the country with 81 points and 33 goals to go with 15 assists (2nd NE-10), netting eight game winning goals. Senior Lyn-Marie Wilson (Bridgetown, Barbados) has added 12 goals (7th) and ten assists (4th) for 34 points (7th), while freshman Kaycee Zelkovsky (Lambertville, New Jersey/South Hunterdon Regional) has posted ten goals (11th) and four assists for 24 points this fall.
Sophomore Ericka Parks (Nesconset, New York/Smithtown East) has seen the majority of minutes in goal for LIU Post and leads the NE-10 with a 0.93 goals against average to go with a .717 save percentage, 2.1 saves per game and five shutouts in 982:52 over 15 games played with a 14-1 record in the cage. Postgrad Dani Crouse (Westville, South Africa) leads the defensive unit and has also contributed eight goals, including four game winners, and eight assists (8th) for 24 points (11th) this season.
While Saturday marks the second postseason meeting all-time between these two programs, Stonehill holds an 8-4 record against LIU Post in the all-time series after recording a 3-2 triumph in the regular season encounter between the two at W.B. Mason Stadium on October 17. Three different players scored goals for the Skyhawks, with Giordano netting the game winner and Sylvia and senior Jennifer Foley (Holden, Massachusetts/Notre Dame Academy) also collecting goals. Senior Stephanie Ruhle (Wanaque, New Jersey/Lakeland Regional) scored both goals for the Pioneers, while Parks finished with seven saves.
Both teams are in good position to earn NCAA Tournament bids when the selections are announced on Sunday at 1 p.m. Stonehill is ranked first in the North Regional rankings, with LIU Post second. The winner of tomorrow's game would likely earn the top seed in the region and a bye to the national semifinals at the NCAA Division II Fall Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, December 4-6.
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2014 Northeast-10 Conference
Field Hockey Championships
First Round
Tuesday, November 18 (at higher seeds)
#4 American International 2, #5 Assumption 1
#3 Adelphi 6, #6 Bentley 2
Semifinals
Thursday, November 20 (at higher seeds)
#1 LIU Post 4, #4 American International 0
#2 Stonehill 3, #3 Adelphi 1
Championship
Saturday, November 22
#2 Stonehill (16-3, 9-2 NE-10) at #1 LIU Post (16-2, 10-1 NE-10), 1 p.m.
