Sullivan matched her career-high with five goals, and added team-highs with a career-best eight ground balls, five draw controls and three caused turnovers (PHOTO BY Crystal Ayn Photography) |
Faley's season-high 12 saves, career-high matching five Sullivan goals and six Rudden assists lead Skyhawks
EASTON, Mass. (March 26, 2022) – Stonehill College, ranked No. 24 in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll and No. 16 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Top 20 poll, battled its way to a fifth-straight win to remain perfect in Northeast-10 Conference play with a 14-13 triumph over Bentley University, ranked No. 14 in the IWLCA poll and No. 17 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll, in NE10 women's lacrosse action at Bentley Field this afternoon.
Scoring
Stonehill
Goals: Emma Sullivan 5, Lilly Leach 3, Kayla Conway 2, Molly Mae Hughes, Lydia Rudden, Kendall Fressle, Caroline Davey.
Assists: Lydia Rudden 6, Kendall Fressle, Kayla Conway.
Bentley
Goals: Maeve Johnson 2, Cara McCarthy 2, Caroline Affolter 2, Courtney Dermody 2, Sydney Lynch, Sandrine Heller, Caroline Boudreau, Glenna Gies, Amanda Davis.
Assists: Cara McCarthy 2, Sandrine Heller, Christine Fish, Maeve Johnson, Caroline Affolter, Courtney Dermody.
Goalkeeping
Stonehill: Sarah Faley – 12 saves (60:00).
Bentley: Maya Rose – 5 saves (60:00).
More Leaders
Stonehill
Caused Turnovers: Kendall Fressle & Emma Sullivan 3.
Draw Controls: Emma Sullivan 5.
Ground Balls: Emma Sullivan 8.
Bentley
Caused Turnovers: Kat Slattery & Courtney Dermody 2.
Draw Controls: Cara McCarthy 7.
Ground Balls: Courtney Dermody 4.
Rudden dished out a game-high six assists and posted a game-best seven points (PHOTO BY Crystal Ayn Photography) |
How it Happened
- Stonehill outscored rival Bentley 8-5 in the second half, with freshman Sarah Faley making seven of her season-high 12 saves after halftime, to secure its fifth-straight win.
- The Skyhawks stretched a four-goal run over the third and fourth quarters to turn a one goal deficit (10-9) with two minutes remaining in the third into a three-goal lead (13-10) less than three minutes into the fourth after back-to-back goals from senior preseason All-American Emma Sullivan, who finished the afternoon with a career-high matching five goals.
- Bentley answered with goals from three different players in the next six minutes to pull even (13-13) after junior Sydney Lynch netted her lone goal of the afternoon with 6:18 to play. Sophomore Courtney Dermody registered a goal and assist during the Falcons run, assisting on the Lynch equalizer.
- Junior Kayla Conway followed with the game-winner on classmate Lydia Rudden's sixth assist of the day with the gamewinner on her second goal of the game with 71-seconds remaining.
- Stonehill won the ensuing draw, but Bentley was able to force a turnover to gain possession with under a minute to play. After a timeout, the Falcons forced a free-position opportunity with 17-seconds to play, but a Skyhawks defender appeared to get a stick to Dermody's attempt to force it wide and junior Abigail Moynihan collected the ground ball to see out the clock and sew up the win.
- Sophomore Maeve Johnson scored the first two goals of the day to stake Bentley out to an early lead after four minutes. She added an assist later in the quarter as the Falcons took a 4-2 lead into the second.
- Both teams scored four times in the second frame, with Sullivan scoring twice for Stonehill and postgrad Cara McCarthy recording a goal and assist, setting up senior Caroline Boudreau's goal with 1:31 left in the half to restore the Falcons two goal lead at the intermission.
- Rudden dished out assists to Sullivan and sophomore Molly Mae Hughes as Stonehill pulled even (8-8) less than three minutes into the third quarter. The teams traded goals the remainder of the third before Stonehill started its run with Conway's first goal of the afternoon with 48-seconds to play in the third, also assisted by Rudden.
- Sophomore Lilly Leach opened the fourth quarter with her third goal of the game to give Stonehill its first lead of the afternoon (11-10) just 12-seconds in.
Conway scored the gamewinner with just 71-seconds to play and finished with two goals and an assist (PHOTO BY Crystal Ayn Photography) |
Noteworthy
- The fourth quarter lead was the first of the afternoon for Stonehill, which remains perfect in NE10 play with the win over the reigning Conference Tournament champions.
- Stonehill returned to the IWLCA Division II poll at No. 24 this week, in addition to its debut in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll, marking its first national ranking since 2018.
- Stonehill improved to 2-0 this season against teams ranked inside the IWLCA Division II Top 25.
- Sullivan matched her career-high with five goals for the third time this season, having netted multiple goals in all seven games this spring. After notching her 100th career point at American International College on Wednesday, Sullivan has now scored 86 goals in 38 career games, adding 24 assists for 110 points. She also led the Skyhawks with a career-best eight ground balls, five draw controls and three caused turnovers.
- Rudden finished with a team-high seven points with a goal and team-best six assists. It marks her fourth game with three or more assists, and she has now totaled 93 career points with 35 goals and 58 assists in 20 career games.
- Leach contributed three goals for her third multi-goal game of the season.
- Faley notched double-digit saves for the second time this season.
- Stonehill has won five-straight games for the first time since April 2017 and is off to a 6-1 start for the first time since opening the 2015 season with 12-straight wins.
- Stonehill's 4-0 start to NE10 play is its first since 2015 when it won the first nine in the Conference.
- Bentley is the defending NE10 Tournament Champions, having captured its first title with a 9-8 victory over Adelphi University last spring.
Up Next
Stonehill (6-1, 4-0 NE10) returns to action on Wednesday, when it hosts No. 19 Assumption University for an NE10 clash at W.B. Mason Stadium at 7 p.m. Bentley (3-2, 2-1 NE10) hosts Franklin Pierce University on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
