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| Senior Michelle Salmon had a hat trick in her final game in a Stonehill uniform |
Upset Special: Skyhawks Fall In NE-10 Semis
West Haven, Conn. - Second seed Stonehill fell behind early and never took a lead as third seed Southern New Hampshire upset the nine time defending conference champions, 11-9 on the campus of the University of New Haven on Saturday afternoon.
The loss is the first for the Skyhawks in the NE-10 tournament since 1999 and ends Stonehill's season at 10-6. In defeat, senior Michelle Salmon (East, Islip, N.Y.) matched a career high with three goals while Jackie Ladino (North Dartmouth, Mass.) also had a hat trick.
From the onset the Penmen were aggressive, scoring twice in the first six minutes of the game to grab the lead.
The Skyhawks responded at the 15:39 as Ladino scored her 23rd goal of the season to cut the deficit to 2-1. Southern New Hampshire pushed the lead back to two a minute later on Maura Murphy's second goal of the game.
With just 7:45 left in the half, Ladino scored to bring Stonehill within one and Mary Maloney (Great River, N.Y.) evened the game up at three just 24 seconds later. The Skyhawks were unable to get a shot off the rest of the period and went into the half tied.
In the second it was the Penmen who struck first again, scoring twice in first three minutes. Stonehill climbed within one once again at 5-4 on Salmon's first goal of the game at the 26:31 mark.
The teams exchanged goals over the next eight minutes with each team scoring twice, leaving the Skyhawks on the wrong side of a 7-6 margin.
With just under 15 minutes remaining, Stonehill evened up the score at seven apiece on Salmons third goal of the game. However the Skyhawks were never able to take a lead, giving up two Libby Parent scores over the next four minutes and another goal at the 8:52 mark to fall behind 10-7.
Goals by Ladino and Kiley Corson (Bow, N.H.) 22 seconds apart put Stonehill within one with just over six minutes remaining but a Penmen score with 4:07 left pushed the lead to 11-9.
In the final minutes, Salmon was denied on a shot attempt and Southern New Hampshire ran out the clock in the last minute for the first ever win over Stonehill.
Senior Justine Ferland (Portsmouth, N.H.) made nine saves in net while senior Michelle Kelly (Mendham, N.J.) was held without a point for just the second time in her career. Kelly finishes her career as Stonehill's all-time leading scorer with 327 points, while Maloney ends her career with 214.