Hughes nets free-position game-winner with 2:14 to play in OT
Rudden's eight points, Faley's ten saves lead Skyhawks to first win over Panthers since 2007

Hughes scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, while adding an assist to help lead the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

EASTON, Mass. (April 23, 2022) – Sophomore Molly Mae Hughes scored a free-position goal with 2:14 remaining in overtime to lift 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, to a 14-13 triumph over Adelphi University, ranked No. 2 in the IWLCA poll and No. 3 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll, in a Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse matchup between the top two teams in the first NCAA Division II East Regional rankings of the season on Timothy J. Coughlin, '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium this afternoon.

Stonehill, ranked No. 2 in the NCAA II East Regional rankings released on Wednesday, notches its sixth win (6-1) over a nationally-ranked opponent this season with its first victory over East Region No. 1 Adelphi since a 12-11 triple-overtime win over the Panthers in Garden City, New York, on April 14, 2007. That marks the only other win in NE10 play against Adelphi, and its first at W.B. Mason Stadium as Stonehill's only prior win in Easton came in the first-ever meeting between the two in 2002 – two years prior to the Stadium being built. The win snaps a string of 20-straight Adelphi wins over the Skyhawks, who had won five of the first seven encounters between 2002 and 2007.

Rudden dished out seven assists and finished with eight points to lead the Skyhawks attack (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Today also marked the fourth overtime encounter between the two teams, with each team now winning twice. Stonehill's 14 goals are the most against the Panthers since Le Moyne College matched that total in a 14-3 triumph in Syracuse, New York, on March 28, 2021, and just the second time they have conceded double-digit goals this season. It's the most goals the Skyhawks have scored against Adelphi since a 20-14 Panthers win in 2011 and the second-highest total overall after a 16-10 Stonehill win in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. 

Scoring

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

Adelphi
Goals: Izzy Grant 3, Emily Beier 2, Christina McCabe 2, Kerrin Heuser 2, Kristina Schweitzer 2, Gianna Bifulco, Kelly-Ann McGrath.
Assists: Emily Beier 5, Kristina Kallansrude, Christina McCabe. 

Goalkeeping
Stonehill: Sarah Faley – 10 saves (63:46).
Adelphi: Emma Lemanski – 6 saves (63:46). 

More Leaders

Stonehill
Caused Turnovers: Victoria Butler 2.
Draw Controls: Lilly Leach 8.
Ground Balls: Sarah Faley 3. 

Adelphi
Caused Turnovers: Kailey Broderick 4.
Draw Controls: Izzy Grant 5.
Ground Balls: Kailey Broderick 5. 

Conway netted a team-high five goals - all in the second half - to lead the Skyhawks back (PHOTO BY Jon Bourque)

How it Happened

• Stonehill started fast, scoring the first four goals over the opening 6:11 of the game from four different players as Hughes and junior Lydia Rudden each contributed a goal and assist during the run.
• Adelphi responded with the final three goals of the opening quarter, with postgrad Emily Beier, a transfer from Loyola (Md.) involved in all three with a goal and two assists.
• The Panthers stretched the run to four goals as senior Christina McCabe, a Syracuse transfer, knotted the score 90-seconds into the second quarter.
• Senior preseason All-American Emma Sullivan pushed Stonehill back in front with her second goal of the afternoon a minute later, but Adelphi sandwiched four goals around a second Sullivan tally of the quarter, the last two off the stick of fifth-year Izzy Grant in the final four minutes of the half to give the Panthers a two-goal (8-6) halftime lead.
• Beier stretched the Adelphi lead to three goals with her second goal of the afternoon 86-seconds into the second half, but Stonehill responded with two-straight from junior Kayla Conway, both off Rudden assists, to pull within one (9-8) with 7:55 left in the third quarter, and she drew the Skyhawks back within a goal again with 5:01 to play in the frame, off another Rudden feed, after sophomore Kelly-Ann McGrath had regained the Panthers two-goal lead with 6:52 left.
• Adelphi scored the final two goals of the third quarter to reclaim its three-goal cushion (12-9) heading to the fourth quarter.
• Stonehill rallied with four straight goals in the fourth quarter, with Conway knotting the score with 5:28 to play, assisted by Rudden, and then pushing the Skyhawks in front for the first time since early in the second quarter with her fifth of the day off another Rudden pass with 1:43 to play.
• Stonehill won the ensuing draw, but turned the ball over with less than a minute to play, giving Adelphi a late possession. The Panthers took advantage, drawing a foul with three seconds left, and senior Gianna Bifulco converted the free-possession attempt with two-seconds remaining to force overtime with their lone goal of the final quarter.
• After the teams traded possessions over the first three minutes of the overtime session as each forced turnovers, Stonehill collected the draw after the three-minute switch and Hughes drew a free-position 40-seconds later and then rifled her attempt into the upper right corner of the goal to clinch the victory for the Skyhawks.

Faley made ten saves to keep the Skyhawks in touch (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes)

Noteworthy

• Conway's team-high five goals are just one shy of her career-high and marks her third five-goal effort of the season.
• Rudden finished with a goal and seven assists – one shy of the program's single-game record that she matched in Stonehill's season-opening win at Molloy College on February 27. She now has multiple points in all 14 games, with multiple assists in 12-straight games.
• Rudden leads the NE10 with 60 assists this season - just six shy of Stonehill's single-season record of 66 by Jenny McGrath '06 in 2006. Rudden is also just eight points shy of recording only the third 100-point season in program history and first since McGrath posted a program-record 110 points in 2006.
• Rudden has totaled 49 goals and 89 assists for 138 points in just 27 career games, ranking seventh in program history for career assists.
• Sullivan finished with four goals, marking her 13^th multi-goal game of the season. Hughes was the only other Skyhawk with multiple goals, netting two to go with an assist for three points and her tenth multi-goal game of the year.
• Fressle had multiple points for the 14^th time this season with her goal and assist, and is now just a point shy of joining Sullivan (139) and Rudden (138) in reaching the 100-point plateau for their career. She has now totaled 99 points with 83 goals and 16 assists in 42 career games.
• Stonehill freshman Sarah Faley finished with ten saves, posting double-digit saves for the fifth time this season, and limited Adelphi to 2-for-5 on free-position shots. Postgrad Emma Lemanski registered six stops in the Adelphi goal.
• Sophomore Lilly Leach collected a game-high eight draw controls to lead a Stonehill team that posted a 19-13 advantage off the draw in the game, including 6-2 in the fourth quarter and overtime.
• Beier finished with seven points to lead Adelphi, posting two goals and five assists, while Grant netted a team-high three goals.
• Stonehill has reached 12 wins for the first time since finishing 12-7 in 2017, having won 12 of 14 for the first time since opening the 2015 season with 12-straight wins.
• Stonehill is off to a 10-1 start in NE10 play for the first time since winning ten of the first 11 in the Conference in 2015.
• This afternoon marked the second time this spring Stonehill has knocked off the No. 2-ranked team in the IWLCA Division II poll, with Le Moyne holding that rank during the Skyhawks 17-14 win at W.B. Mason Stadium on March 19.
• Stonehill and Adelphi are now tied atop the NE10 standings heading into the final week of the regular season – two games in the loss column ahead of Le Moyne (8-3) and Pace (8-3).
• 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 (12-2, 10-1 NE10) returns to action on Wednesday night when it hosts No. 23 Southern New Hampshire University at W.B. Mason Stadium at 7 p.m. Adelphi (13-1, 10-1 NE10) aims to rebound at home against Franklin Pierce University on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

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