Smith's two second half goals lifted the Skyhawks to victory and made her one of just six in NCAA II history to surpass 200 career points. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Smith nets two second half goals, surpassing 200 career points
WORCESTER, Mass. (September 22, 2018) – Stonehill College, ranked No. 2 in this week's Penn Monto/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, avenged its lone loss of the season by opening Conference play with a 2-1 comeback win at No. 8 Assumption College in Northeast-10 Conference field hockey action at Multi-Sport Stadium this afternoon.
Senior All-American Kacie Smith, the reigning Longstreth/NFHCA Division II Player of the Year, netted a pair of second-half goals to lead Stonehill to the comeback win. Her opening goal five minutes into the second half gave her 200 career points, becoming just the second player in program history, fourth all-time from the NE10 and sixth all-time in NCAA Division II to reach the plateau. Smith finished the afternoon with 85 goals and 32 assists for 202 career points. She now trails former teammate Erika Kelly, '16's program scoring record by just 15 points and ranks sixth all-time in Division II for career goals (3rd NE10). Smith is also within reach of former UMass Lowell standout Sammy Macy's NE10 scoring record of 219 points.
Senior Sara Freedman finished with a season-high matching ten saves in the Stonehill goal, including seven in the second half, to make the two goals stand. Senior Sarah Bodzinski posted four stops in the Assumption goal. Freshman Jenna Graf scored the lone goal for the Greyhounds with 10:13 remaining in the first half that sent the hosts into the second half with the lead.
Freedman matched her season-high with ten saves to preserve the win. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Smith answered with a pair of goals 15-minutes apart in the second half to lift Stonehill to its third-straight win and notch her second-straight multi-goal game and the 20th multi-goal outing of her career. She knotted the score 5:26 after halftime on a counter-attack, breaking in one-on-one with Bodzinski, and then deking towards the right past the goalkeeper, for a shot into the cage. Smith put the Skyhawks in front at 55:50 as she pounced on a loose ball in front of the cage off a rebound and poked the ball past Bodzinski for her eighth marker of the year.
Stonehill (4-1, 1-0 NE10) returns to action on Wednesday, when it visits American International College for an NE10 matchup at 7 p.m. The Skyhawks are home next Saturday, September 29, to host rival Bentley University at 1 p.m. Assumption (4-2, 0-1 NE10) visits Saint Anselm College next Saturday at 1 p.m.
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