Senior Brooke Rudden totaled seven points to lead the Skyhawks to victory. (PHOTO BY Emily Reynolds) |
Rudden leads Skyhawks with seven point afternoon
EASTON, Mass. (March 4, 2015) – Stonehill College, ranked 12th in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches' Association (IWLCA) Division II poll, scored the first seven goals and never looked back in cruising to a 20-7 victory over The University of Findlay in non-conference women's lacrosse action at Timothy J. Coughlin '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.
Senior Brooke Rudden (Hopkinton, Massachusetts/Hopkinton) posted a seven point day to lead Stonehill to victory with four goals and three assists to go with two draw controls and a ground ball. Senior Cassandra McGill (Westborough, Massachusetts/Westborough) added three goals and an assist for four points, converting 2-of-3 free-position shot attempts, while classmates Mikayla Couch (Towaco, New Jersey/DePaul Catholic) and Lizzie Lane (Sandwich, Massachusetts/Bishop Stang) each netted three goals. Lane also contributed five draw controls, three caused turnovers and three ground balls, while Couch collected four draws and two ground balls with a caused turnover.
Junior Caitlin Sweeney (Hollis, New Hampshire/Hollis-Brookline) and sophomore Elizabeth Vetter (Great River, New York/East Islip) each chipped in two goals for Stonehill, while sophomore Kiki Ryan (Salem, Connecticut/East Lyme) dished out a pair of assists. Vetter also posted four draws for the Skyhawks.
Sophomore Kyra Bradley (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia/Terry Fox Secondary) led Findlay with four goals. Freshman Olivia Sherman (Okemos, Michigan/Okemos) added two goals and two assists, while junior Sarah Lankton (Carmel, Indiana/St. Theodore Guerin Catholic) chipped in with a goal and assist, six draw controls and three ground halls.
Senior Cassandra McGill added three goals and an assist for four points. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Senior Ashley Armstrong (Northborough, Massachusetts/Algonquin Regional) played all 60 minutes in goal for Stonehill and finished with a season-high seven saves. Freshman Rachel Heath (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) started in the Findlay goal and made nine saves over the first 43:29 before yielding to classmate Brooke Eicher (Fenton, Michigan/Hartland) stopped two of three shots on goal against her over the final 16:31.
Stonehill posted a 37-15 advantage for shots on the afternoon, including 28-7 in the first half in staking out a 14-3 lead at the intermission. The Skyhawks had a 19-10 advantage in draw controls, including 14-4 at the break, and forced 16 Findlay turnovers, with 12 in the opening half hour.
Senior Jillian Yung (Bridgewater, Massachusetts/Bridgewater-Raynham) opened the scoring just 36-seconds into the contest and Stonehill scored three times over the first nine minutes of the game on its way to a 7-0 lead after an unassisted goal from Sweeney with 11:05 remaining in the half. McGill led the Skyhawks with two goals and an assist during the opening stretch.
Findlay got on the scoreboard with Sherman's first goal of the day with 10:13 left in the half, but Lane and McGill countered with Stonehill markers less than two minutes apart for a nine goal cushion with five minutes left. Lankton chipped in a goal for the Oilers with four minutes remaining, but three different goal scorers in the closing 2:15 pushed the Skyhawks lead to 14-3 at the break.
Rudden scored three straight goals, two assisted by Ryan, to stretch Stonehill's lead to 17-3 six and a half minutes into the second half. Findlay outscored Stonehill 4-3 the rest of the way as Bradley scored three goals and Sherman chipped in one to go with an assist for the Oilers in that span. Couch capped the scoring and her hat trick, with a goal set up by Rudden with just two seconds left.
Stonehill (2-0, 1-0 NE-10) returns to action on Sunday night when it visits No. 15 Rollins College for a non-conference clash at 7 p.m. The Skyhawks don't return home until Wednesday, March 25, for its first ever meeting with Northeast-10 Conference newcomer Pace University at 7 p.m. Findlay (0-3, 0-0 GLIAC) visits 9th-ranked Mercyhurst University on Sunday at noon.
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