Giordano Lifts Stonehill Past #6 Limestone, 3-2


Senior Lauren Giordano netted the winning goal with 5:32 to play for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Skyhawks score twice in final eight minutes to earn victory 

EASTON, Mass. (September 26, 2015) – Stonehill College scored a pair of goals within a two and a half minute span late in the second half to claim a 3-2 triumph over Limestone College, ranked No. 6 in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, in non-conference field hockey action on Timothy J. Coughlin '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.

Senior Lauren Giordano (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) scored the gamewinner with 5:32 remaining in regulation to cap a three goal flurry in which the Skyhawks sandwiched a Limestone equalizer with a pair of goals 2:28 apart. Senior All-American Erika Kelly (Watertown, Massachusetts/Watertown) and sophomore Alexandria Sylvia (Brockton, Massachusetts/Brockton) each added goals for the Skyhawks.

Freshman Sara Freedman (Hopkinton, Massachusetts/Hopkinton) finished with eight saves in the Stonehill goal. Limestone recorded a 19-13 advantage in shots for the afternoon, including 10-5 in the second half, while the Skyhawks held a 7-6 edge in penalty corners. Sophomore Tabria Cochran (Stafford, Virginia/North Stafford) posted five stops in the Limestone cage.


Freshman Sara Freedman posted eight saves to preserve the win. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Giordano tapped in a crossing pass from the left side by freshman Kacie Smith (Norwood, Massachusetts/Norwood) with 5:32 to play. The goal came just over a minute after Limestone freshman Cassidy Coates (Baltimore, Maryland/Perry Hall) had leveled the game with her first career goal as she tapped a pass from the right side by senior Brittany Carney (Newfield, New Jersey/Delsea Regional) that went under Freedman into an open net at 63:39.

That marked the second time Limestone had a quick answer to a Stonehill go-ahead goal as Coates followed Sylvia's third goal of the year at the 62-minute mark as she knocked in a deflected pass on the right side. Kelly put Stonehill in front with her eighth goal of the season 3:13 into the game when she scored with a rolling shot from the left side of the arc off a pass from classmate Maggie Travers (Scituate, Massachusetts/Scituate) off a corner by Sarah Morse (Westminster, Massachusetts/Oakmont Regional).

Limestone equalized less than four minutes later off a corner when freshman Juliette Enthoven (Wilrijk, Belgium) slotted a shot from the left side off a pass from junior Stembeni Zhanda (Harare, Zimbabwe) following a corner pass by senior Allyson Meyer (Huntington Beach, California/Edison) at 6:32.

Stonehill (4-3, 2-0 NE-10) is right back in action tomorrow with another nationally-ranked matchup as it visits No. 5 LIU Post for a key Northeast-10 Conference matchup at noon. The Skyhawks return to W.B. Mason Stadium next Saturday, October 3, to host Assumption College at noon. Limestone (4-2, 2-1 ECAC II) visits Bentley University tomorrow at noon.

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