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| Jessie Ragnio led the Skyhawks with five ground balls against the Ravens |
No. 9 Skyhawks Overpower Ravens, 24-8
Rindge, N.H. - The ninth ranked Skyhawks didn't strike first but struck often as four different players registered at least five points on their way to beating Franklin Pierce 24-8 on Thursday afternoon.
Stonehill was led by seniors Mary Maloney (Great River, N.Y.) and Michelle Kelly (Mendham, N.J.), who combined for nine goals and four assists as the Skyhawks improved to 8-1 overall and 8-0 in conference play.
Out of the gate it was the Ravens who struck first, scoring twice in the game's opening four minutes to grab a 2-0 lead.
Stonehill cut the Franklin Pierce lead in half six minutes in, as freshman Carly Keeley (Agawam, Mass.) scored off a pass from fellow classmate Sam Lynott (Holbrook, N.Y.). The Skyhawks evened up the score just over a minute later as junior Liza Gross (Loudonville, N.Y.) put home her 24th goal of the season.
Kelly gave Stonehill their first lead of the game at the 20:24 mark with her first score. A goal by Keeley and another score by Kelly gave the Skyhawks a 5-2 margin before a Lauren Steele goal with just under 15 minutes left cut the Franklin Pierce deficit to two.
Over the next 12 minutes Stonehill went on a 7-0 run, highlighted by a hat trick from Maloney and pushed the lead to 12-3. However, two Raven goals in the final 40 seconds of the game made it a 12-5 margin at intermission.
Franklin Pierce picked up where they left off, scoring two of the first three goals in the second and cutting the lead to 13-7 in just three minutes.
That would be as close as Ravens got, as the Skyhawks allowed just one more Franklin Pierce score over the final 27 minute while putting home 11 goals of their own.
In the second half, Stonehill got two goals apiece from Gross, Kelly, Lynott and sophomore Kathryn Ford (Brookhaven, N.Y.). Senior goalie Justine Ferland (Portsmouth, N.H.) made five second half saves and seven overall while playing the entire 60 minutes.
Gross finished with four goals, and also added an assist for her third straight game with five points while Lynott dished out one assist and scored four times for a career high five points.
The ninth ranked Skyhawks take to the field again on Saturday when they play the top team in the country, Adelphi, in Garden City, N.Y. at 2:00 p.m.