Junior Kayla Green scored four goals to lead Stonehill. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Tars stop second late comeback effort by Skyhawks in top ten battle

Junior Erica Pagliarulo (Winchester, Mass./Newton Country Day) scored three goals, including what proved to be the deciding goal in the first half of overtime to lead Rollins, adding two ground balls and two draw controls. Juniors Mo Imel (Ellicot City, Md./Seton Keough) and Sophie Townsend (Ocean City, Md./Worcester Prep) each added two goals for the Tars, while classmate Sarah Ann Showell (Ocean City, Md./Worcester Prep) chipped in with a goal and assist. Senior Courtney Bianculli (Setauket, N.Y./Ward-Melville) led the defense with nine ground balls and five caused turnovers.

Sophomore Elyse De Lisle (Windermere, Fla./Olympia) made 12 saves in goal for Rollins, including one on a free-position shot with 28-seconds left and then forced a turnover with less than five seconds remaining to seal the victory. Freshman Ashley Armstrong (Northborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) posted a season-high 16 saves, including nine after halftime, in the cage for Stonehill as Rollins finished with a 40-31 shots advantage for the contest. The Skyhawks held a 20-11 edge in draw controls and was 17-for-23 on clear attempts, while the Tars were 21-for-31 and forced 26 turnovers.

Junior Kayla Green (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) led the way for Stonehill with four goals, a ground ball and caused turnover. Classmate Heather Sullivan (Andover, Mass./Andover) added three goals and four ground balls, while senior All-American Sarah Galligan (West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket Regional) contributed a goal and three assists for four points with four ground balls and a caused turnover.

Senior All-American Sarah Galligan finished with a goal and three assists. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Senior All-American Samantha Lynott (Holbrook, N.Y./East Sachem) and freshman Mikayla Couch (Towaco, N.J./DePaul Catholic) both chipped in with two goals, while Lynott also added eight draw controls, two ground balls and a caused turnover.

Stonehill scored three goals in the final 4:43 of regulation to force overtime, but fell behind again and could not rally in the final minute of overtime. Lynott sparked the second half rally with a free position marker, before Sullivan pulled the Skyhawks within a goal with 1:13 remaining and Green scored a free position goal with 11-seconds left to force the extra period.

Sophomore Ginevra Czech (Maplewood, N.J./Columbia) put Rollins back in front with 1:51 left in the first half of overtime, before Pagliarulo's third goal of the day, on a free-position shot, with 30-seconds left gave the Tars a two goal lead again. After the teams switched ends, Stonehill got a goal back with a free position marker from Sullivan with 47-seconds to go. After a Rollins timeout, junior All-American Kelsey Reilly (Hingham, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) corralled the draw control, her tenth of the day, and the Skyhawks drew two fouls before earning another free-position attempt. De Lisle stopped the shot by Sullivan, but the Tars could not clear the zone. De Lisle came up big again, with a caused turnover in the dying seconds to seal the win.

After Imel opened the scoring for Rollins six minutes into the contest, Stonehill netted the next three goals to open a 3-1 lead with 21:13 remaining in the first half after two goals from Couch. Galligan had assists on two of those markers, the first by Sullivan and Couch's second. Rollins answered with three straight goals over its own to regain the lead, and then the teams traded goals the rest of the half with Pagliarulo sending the Tars into halftime in front with an unassisted tally with ten seconds left.

Stonehill opened the second half scoring with goals from Lynott, assisted by sophomore Mary Lee Mahony (Yardley, Pa./Villa Joseph Marie), and Green in the opening two and a half minutes. Rollins responded with two straight goals of its own before Green knotted the score at 9-9, assisted by Galligan, with 14:25 left in regulation.

Rollins looked to take control with three straight goals, led by a goal and assist from junior Anna Townsend (Ocean City, Md./Worcester Prep), after a goal from Showell, assisted by Townsend, with 6:43 remaining.

Stonehill (2-1, 0-0 NE-10) is back in action on Wednesday, March 21, when it hosts Saint Anselm College at W.B. Mason Stadium for the first NE-10 matchup of the spring at 4 p.m. Rollins (9-0) hosts Lenoir Ryhne University on Thursday at 7 p.m.