Hughes career-highs lead Skyhawks to fifth-straight win heading into Saturday showdown

Hughes posted a career-high nine points, scoring a career-high matching seven goals to go with two assists (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

EASTON, Mass. (April 20, 2022) – Stonehill College, ranked No. 11 in this week's USA Lacrosse Magazine Division II poll and No. 14 in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll, opened a regular season ending four game homestand with a commanding 20-6 victory over Southern Connecticut State University in Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse action on Timothy J. Coughlin, '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium tonight.

Stonehill, which will play its final four games of the regular season at home, opened the homestand with its fifth-straight win heading into Saturday's showdown with No. 2-ranked Adelphi University with first place in the NE10 standings on the line in the matchup between the top two teams in the first NCAA Division II East Regional rankings released earlier today. The Skyhawks are ranked No. 2 in the East Region, while the Panthers are ranked No. 1.

Sophomore Molly Mae Hughes led the way for Stonehill with a career-high nine points, matching her career-best with seven goals to go with a pair of assists. 

Scoring

Stonehill
Goals: Molly Mae Hughes 7, Lydia Rudden 4, Emma Sullivan 3, Kendall Fressle 3, Kayla Conway, Abigail Moynihan, Victoria Butler.
Assists: Lydia Rudden 5, Molly Mae Hughes 2, Kayla Conway, Emma Sullivan. 

Southern Conn. State
Goals: Karlie Rowe 2, Alexandra Ruel, Savannah Feinberg, Bayleigh Takacz, Brianna Shaw.
Assists: Alexandra Ruel. 

Goalkeeping
Stonehill: Sarah Faley – 6 saves (60:00).
Southern Conn. State: Sophie Kurtz – 6 saves (60:00). 

Rudden also tallied nine points with four goals and five assists (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens)

More Leaders
Stonehill

Caused Turnovers: Emma Sullivan 4.
Draw Controls: Victoria Butler 9.
Ground Balls: Emma Sullivan 6.

Southern Conn. State

Caused Turnovers: Brianna Shaw 3.
Draw Controls: Amelia Mansfield 8.
Ground Balls: Six with 2, including Brianna Shaw.

How it Happened

• Stonehill scored the first three goals of the game, with junior Lydia Rudden involved in all three with a goal and two assists, over the first 5:10 to grab a lead it would not relinquish.
• Stonehill carried a 5-2 lead into the second quarter after five different players scored goals in the opening frame and the two teams traded goals over the final nine minutes.
• The Skyhawks broke the game open by outscoring Southern Connecticut 7-1 in the second quarter, closing the half with a 6-0 run in the final 9:55, to carry a 12-3 lead into halftime. Hughes scored three of her seven goals during the run, while adding an assist, and Rudden tallied a goal and three assists in the frame.
• Southern got goals from junior Alexandra Ruel and senior Bayleigh Takacs over the first four minutes of the third quarter, but Stonehill followed with the next four goals, including a pair from senior Kendall Fressle, to open a 17-5 lead after Hughes' sixth of the night 62-seconds into the fourth and the Skyhawks closed the game out from there.

Butler collected a career-high matching nine draw controls and added three caused turnovers (PHJOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Noteworthy

• Hughes' nine points are a career-high and she matched her career-best goal total with seven set at Stonehill's last home game against No. 25 The College of Saint Rose on April 5.
• Rudden finished a point shy of a second-straight ten point performance, finishing the night with four goals and five assists. She now has multiple points in all 13 games, with multiple assists in 11-straight games and multiple goals in four-straight.
• Rudden is just the second player in program history to surpass 50 assists in a season, with her NE10-leading 53 helpers to date now just 13 shy of Stonehill's single-season record of 66 by Jenny McGrath '06 in 2006. Rudden has now totaled 48 goals and 82 assists for 130 points in just 26 career games, ranking eighth in program history for career assists.
• Rudden's NE10-high 84 points are just one shy of cracking the program's single-season top ten.
• Senior preseason All-American Emma Sullivan added three goals and an assist, while Fressle also netted three goals.
• Sullivan also contributed six ground balls, four caused turnovers and four draw controls. Her 190 career draws are tied for third all-time in Stonehill history with Liza Gross, '10, with her NE10-leading 105 this spring ranking fourth on the program's all-time single-season list.
• Stonehill finished with four student-athletes with multiple goals, with Hughes (7), Rudden (4) Fressle (3) and Sullivan (3) all netting multiples, while junior Kayla Conway posted multiple points with a goal and assist.
• Fressle has multiple goals in six-straight games and ten games this season overall. She has now totaled 97 points with 82 goals and 15 assists in 41 career games.
• Stonehill freshman Sarah Faley and Southern sophomore Sophie Kurtz both went the distance in goal for their respective teams, and each recorded six saves.
• Junior Victoria Butler matched her career-high with a game-high nine draw controls for Stonehill, adding three caused turnovers, four ground balls and a goal.
• Senior Karlie Rowe scored a team-high two goals for Southern, while Ruel finished with a goal and assist.
• Stonehill has reached 11 wins for the first time since finishing 12-7 in 2017, having won 11 of 13 for the first time since opening the 2015 season with 12-straight wins.
• Stonehill is off to a 9-1 start in NE10 play for the first time since winning the first nine in the Conference in 2015.
• Stonehill moved up one spot to No. 14 in this week's IWLCA Division II poll and up two spots to No. 11 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll.

Up Next

Stonehill (11-2, 9-1 NE10) is right back in action on Saturday, when it hosts No. 2-ranked Adelphi for a key NE10 clash on Alumnae Day at 1 p.m. Southern Conn. State (3-10, 2-8 NE10) hosts The College of Saint Rose on Saturday at 1 p.m.

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