Junior Brooke Rudden scored two goals and dished out three assists to lead the Skyhawks with five points on Tuesday night. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Rudden leads Skyhawks with five points, Armstrong adds eight saves
WALTHAM, Mass. (April 8, 2014) – Stonehill College, ranked 14th in this week's Lacrosse Magazine poll and 15th in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll, picked up its third straight win and fifth out of six games with a 14-8 victory over Bentley University in Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse action tonight.
Junior Brooke Rudden (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) led Stonehill with five points on two goals and three assists, while senior Kelsey Shannahan (Mendham, N.J./Morris Catholic) and sophomore Rebecca Matheson (Reading, Mass./Reading Memorial) both netted three goals. Shannahan also collected three draw controls and a ground ball, while extending her point streak to 36 games dating back to her freshman season. Junior Lizzie Lane (Sandwich, Mass./Bishop Stang) added a goal and assist with six draws, two ground balls and a caused turnover, while classmate Cassandra McGill (Westborough, Mass./Westborough) contributed two goals. Junior Jillian Yung (Bridgewater, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham), sophomore Caitlin Sweeney (Hollis, N.H./Hollis-Brookline) and freshman Elizabeth Vetter (Great River, N.Y./East Islip) each chipped in with a goal.
Junior Ashley Armstrong (Northborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) held her third straight opponent under ten goals, and fifth in six games, with eight saves to go with three ground balls and a caused turnover. Stonehill finished with a 26-21 edge in shots for the game to go with a 15-8 advantage for draw controls. The Skyhawks were 0-for-3 on free-position shots, but Bentley was 1-for-6 with Armstrong making a save on one of those misses. Senior Ally Dorman (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) started in the Falcons goal and made two saves while yielding six goals over the opening 19:40 before giving way to freshman Lauren Ochs (Rochester, N.Y./Irondequoit) who stopped five shots, allowing eight goals over the final 40:20.
Senior Kelsey Shannahan netted three goals for the Skyhawks and has recorded at least a point in 36 straight games. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Senior Taylor Bastien (North Kingstown, R.I./North Kingstown) led Bentley with seven points, dishing out six assists to go with a goal, while classmate Jackie Brown (Brookfield, Conn./Brookfield) netted three goals while collecting three draw controls. Sophomore Erin O'Connor (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) contributed a goal and two draws, while freshman Ciara Morley (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington) chipped in a goal, two draws, two ground balls and a caused turnover.
Stonehill got off to a fast start, netting three goals in the opening five minutes. Lane scored off a pass from junior Emily Kessel (Kennebunk, Maine/Kennebunk) to open the scoring 2:17 into the contest. Sweeney added an unassisted marker 31-seconds later and then Shannahan scored her first of the night off a Rudden feed. Freshman Taylor Lunden (Agawam, Mass./Agawam) got Bentley on the scoreboard with 20:34 remaining in the half off a feed from Bastien.
Stonehill responded with the next four goals to open a 7-1 lead with 3:29 left before halftime. Rudden and Yung scored unassisted goals just 11-seconds apart to spark the rally as the half approached the midway point before Matheson scored off a Lane pass with 13:49 left in the half. McGill capped the run with an unassisted goal with 3:29 remaining.
Bentley drew back within 8-3 at the half with Bastien playing a role in all three goals of a run that wrapped around halftime to pull the Falcons back with three (8-5) after she set up Brown 5:13 into the second half. Bastien had a goal and two assists during that stretch, scoring the final goal of the opening half with just 11-seconds on the clock.
Stonehill answered by scoring three times in a five minute span to regain a six goal lead (11-5). Rudden dished two assists during that run, starting with a Shannahan goal with 20:10 on the clock. McGill added an unassisted goal with 18:01 to play before Vetter scored off a Rudden feed with 15:15 remaining.
Back to back goals from Brown, both set up by Bastien, 28-seconds apart had Bentley back within four with 13:36 still to play. Stonehill sealed the win by scoring three of the final four goals in the last ten minutes, including two in the final minute by Matheson with 55-seconds to go and Rudden with a second on the clock.
Stonehill (7-4, 6-2 NE-10) is right back in action tomorrow night to host Southern Connecticut State University at W.B. Mason Stadium at 7 p.m. Bentley (4-7, 3-4 NE-10) visits Assumption College on Saturday at 11 a.m.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks mobile app on iTunes and the Android Market.
