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| Jackie Ladino had two goals and an assist for the Skyhawks. |
Stonehill Comeback Bid Falls Short Against West Chester
West Chester, Pa. - The eighth ranked Skyhawks failed to come back after trailing by five goals in the first half against the defending national champion Golden Rams on Saturday afternoon, falling 13-11 to the No. 6 team in the country.
The loss is the third straight for Stonehill, and it drops their record to 8-4 on the season. The Skyhawks were led by senior Michelle Kelly (Mendham, N.J.), who had four goals and an assist in defeat.
Stonehill led off the scoring for the third time in as many games, as Kelly put home her 41st goal of the season to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
The lead would last, as West Chester scored five unanswered goals over the next 15:30 to jump out to a 5-1 advantage.
Kelly scored her second goal of the game with just over ten minutes remaining, but two more Golden Ram scores pushed the lead to 7-2 with 7:33 left to play in the half.
Junior Jackie Ladino (North Dartmouth, Mass.) and Kelly trimmed the lead to 7-4 over the next two and a half minutes, but two more West Chester goals before the game brought the lead back to five at 9-4.
The Golden Rams opened the second half scoring to up the lead to six, but the Skyhawks went on a 4-1 run over the next 11 minutes, getting a three goals from Mary Maloney (Great River, N.Y.) and one from Liza Gross (Loudonville, N.Y.) to cut the lead to 11-8.
The two teams traded goals over the next five and a half minutes, leaving Stonehill down my three with ten minutes left to play. However, at the 7:18 mark, West Chester upped their lead to four on Jackie Baker's second goal of the afternoon.
The Skyhawks couldn't score again until Ladino converted on a free position shot with 1:54 remaining. A minute later freshman Sam Lynott (Holbrook, N.Y.) dropped the Stonehill deficit to two at 13-11, however the Skyhawks failed to grab the ensuing the draw control and the Golden Rams were able to run out the rest of the clock.
Senior goalie Justine Ferland (Portsmouth, N.H.) stopped seven shots in net and the Stonehill defense allowed West Chester just five second half shots while forcing ten Golden Ram turnovers. Junior Jessie Ragnio (Andover, Mass.) led the team with three ground balls.
The Skyhawks return to action on Monday when they play Millersville at 1:00 p.m. Live stats are available for the game by clicking here.