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| Michelle Kelly had
a team high eight points and four ground balls in the Skyhawks 21-9 win over St. Anselm |
5th Ranked Skyhawks Fly By St. Anselm 21-9
Easton, Mass. - The fifth ranked Stonehill women's lacrosse team opened their 2009 campaign off to a good note, drubbing conference foe St. Anselm 21-9 behind six goal performances from senior All-American Michelle Kelly (Mendham, N.J.) and freshman Leyla Kuz-Dworzak (Norwalk, Conn.) at W.B. Mason Stadium on a chilly Monday night.
It didn't take long for the Skyhawks to take as lead, as junior Liza Gross (Loudonville, N.Y.) gave Stonehill a quick 1-0 lead 1:20 into the game. Less than a minute later the Hawks evened it up at one on a Meghan Smith free position shot.
That would be as close as St. Anselm got all night as Stonehill reeled off five straight goals over the next six minutes, including three straight from Kelly to up the lead to 6-1.
The Hawks cut it to 6-3 with over 18 minutes left but two straight unassisted goals by Kuz-Dworzak and third on a free position shot upped the Skyhawk lead to 9-3. Stonehill wouldn't score again until a Kathryn Ford (Brookhaven, N.Y.) score off a Mary Maloney (Great River, N.Y.) pass in front of the net at the 5:24 mark increased the lead to seven. Both teams scored two goals in the final five minutes of the half to give Stonehill a 12-5 heading into intermission.
In the second half, St. Anselm held the Skyhawks without a goal for the first 11 minutes of the period and, with two Courtney Ford goals, cut the lead to 12-7. Junior Jackie Ladino (North Dartmouth, Mass.) ended the scoring drought for Stonehill with her first goal of the season with less than 19 minutes left.
Over the second ten minutes, the Skyhawks outscored the Hawks 4-1, getting two goals from Kelly and a goal apiece from Gross and Ladino to bring their lead to 17-9. St. Anselm scored once more and Stonehill scored the final four goals for the 21-9 victory.
Kelly finished with six goals and two assists for eight points, while also picking up a team high four ground balls. Kuz-Dworzak added an assist to go with her six tallies for a seven point night and was tied for the team lead in draw controls with four. Maloney had a team high three assists along with two goals.
Senior Justine Ferland (Portsmouth, N.H.) stopped 13 shots in net, while allowing nine goals in 60 minutes of work for the win. The Skyhawks improve to 1-0 overall and in NE-10 play and return to action on Thursday when they travel to Southern Connecticut St. with game time set for 3:30 p.m.