Fourth-seeded Skyhawks open first NEC Tournament appearance with first round matchup against fifth-seeded Red Flash Sunday at noon
NEC Women's Lacrosse Championship Information
Hughes leads the Skyhawks back into postseason play as the leading scorer in the NEC this season (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens, '23) |
EASTON, Mass. (April 27, 2024) – Fourth-seeded Stonehill College, winners of ten conference championships at the NCAA Division II level, will make its Northeast Conference Tournament debut at the Division I level when it hosts fifth-seeded Saint Francis University in first round action of the 2024 NEC Tournament on Timothy J. Coughlin, '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium on Sunday at noon.
Admission to the first round matchup tomorrow is free of charge and the game will also be streamed live via SkyhawksVision on NEC Front Row with Jake Levin calling the action. The first 100 Stonehill students in attendance on Sunday will receive a free NEC water bottle. Links to the broadcast and live stats are available at stonehillskyhawks.com and NEC Front Row viewers can also watch the action live on their televisions with NEC On the Run via Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku.
Stonehill (8-8, 7-3 NEC) makes its first appearance in the NEC Tournament in its first year of postseason access after the Conference presidents voted to waive what was a two-year probationary period in NEC Championships for transitioning members to the NCAA Division I level. The Skyhawks, who won a Conference record ten Northeast-10 Conference Tournament titles prior to accepting a bid to join the NEC in 2022, has won their last three conference tournament contests after capturing a record tenth NE10 crown at W.B. Mason Stadium with an overtime victory over the NEC's newest member Le Moyne College. Stonehill is making its 22nd postseason appearance overall and won a record nine-straight NE10 Tournaments between 2000 and 2008, before adding its record tenth title in its final season at the Division II level in 2022.
Saint Francis (8-7, 7-3 NEC) will be making its second NEC Tournament appearance after making its postseason debut with a 12-6 setback to top-seeded Sacred Heart University in last-years semifinal round. This marks the first season in NEC Tournament history a first round will be contested after the first 25 championships dating back to 1998 had just four seeds competing. This year's top-seed Sacred Heart (10-5, 9-1 NEC) is the defending champion, having posted a 7-6 triumph over Wagner College in Fairfield, Connecticut, in the 2023 championship to win its fourth title and first since the Pioneers captured its third of three-straight crowns in 2010. Sacred Heart's four titles are most among the current NEC members, while Monmouth College and University of Maryland-Baltimore County both captured a Conference-high five championships during their time in the NEC.
Murphy led the Skyhawks to a 19-7 win over Saint Francis last weekend with six goals, including four of their eight first quarter goals (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Sunday will mark the third meeting all-time between Stonehill and Saint Francis, the first in postseason play and second encounter within eight days after the Skyhawks clinched their spot in the NEC Tournament with a 19-7 triumph over the Red Flash at W.B. Mason Stadium on Senior Day last Saturday. Sophomore Grace Murphy scored four of her career-high six goals in the first quarter in leading Stonehill to an 8-3 lead it would not relinquish, adding an assist for a career-high matching seven points. Senior Claire Smith made four of her eight saves in the second quarter to preserve Stonehill's five goal lead it built in the first quarter. Sophomore Bella Fisher paced the Saint Francis attack with two goals and an assist, while junior Taylor Coughlin finished with seven saves in the Red Flash goal. The two teams have split the two prior meetings, with each winning at home, including a 19-18 Saint Francis win in Loretto, Pennsylvania, in the first ever meeting between the two in 2023.
The winner of Sunday's NEC first round matchup will advance to the semifinal round that will be hosted by top-seeded and defending champions Sacred Heart University on Thursday. The Pioneers will face the lowest remaining seed following Sunday's first round matchups between Stonehill and Saint Francis, as well as third-seeded Le Moyne College (9-8, 8-2 NEC) and No. 6 Wagner (5-10, 5-5 NEC), on Thursday at 1 p.m., while second-seeded LIU (9-7, 9-1 NEC) will face the remaining first round winner on Thursday at 4 p.m., in Fairfield, Connecticut. The NEC Championship will be played on Sacred Heart's Campus Field on Saturday at 1 p.m., with all three NEC Tournament games next weekend broadcast on ESPN+ and NEC Front Row.
Sunday's matchup between Stonehill and Saint Francis will feature the top two scoring offenses in the NEC with the Skyhawks scoring a league-high 14.56 goals per game and the Red Flash striking for 11.33 goals per game this year. Stonehill converts on 51.2-percent of its shots this spring, while Saint Francis has scored on 42.5%, with the Skyhawks scoring a Conference-high 11 woman down goals and 41 woman-up goals. The Red Flash rank fourth in the NEC with a 10.75 team goals against average, with the Skyhawks tied for sixth with a 12.12 team GAA. Stonehill has been able to control possession this season with an NEC-leading 15.9 draw controls per game, while Saint Francis ranks seventh with 11.3 draws per game and the Red Flash is ranked second with 8.47 caused turnovers per game, with the Skyhawks fourth with 7.5 and ranking second with 17.75 turnovers per game.
Leach, Most Outstanding Player of the 2022 NE10 Tournament, is second on the team in goals scored, while leading the NEC in draw controls (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens, '23) |
Stonehill boasts four players among the top five scorers in the NEC this season, with Fisher the lone exception with 42 goals and 17 assists for 59 points to rank third in the Conference for Saint Francis. Senior attack Molly Mae Hughes, one of 16 in program history to reach 200 career points, leads the NEC scoring charts with 77 points and 51 goals, while ranking second in assists with 26. The first team All-NEC selection in 2023 has earned NEC Player of the Week honors once this season and been named an NEC Prime Performer a team-high seven weeks (ten career). She ranks tenth in program history with her 225 career points, having totaled 145 goals (13th) and 80 assists (9th).
Sophomore Natalie Coutu, named an NEC Player of the Week once this season, leads the Conference with 36 assists, ranking second to Hughes in scoring with 60 points and fifth on the Skyhawks with 24 goals. Her assist total is tied for ninth on the program's all-time single-season list with head coach Katie (Lambert) Conover, '03. Murphy, also an NEC Player of the Week this season, is second to Hughes among NEC goal-scoring leaders with 46, ranking fourth in scoring with 58 points, having added 12 assists.
Senior Lilly Leach, named the NEC Player of the Week for the first time on Friday, leads the NEC with her 121 draw controls, which ranks third on Stonehill's all-time single-season list. The All-NEC first team selection in 2023, is tied for second in the Conference with 46 goals and ranks fifth with 52 points, adding six assists, 22 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. Junior Sofia D'Agostino has chipped in with 25 goals and four assists for 29 points, adding 51 draws (9th NEC), 39 ground balls (4th) and 15 caused turnovers.
Smith, named the NEC Defensive Player of the Week on Friday, has recorded double-figure save totals in nine of the Skyhawks 16 games (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Smith, named the NEC Defensive Player of the Week on Friday, has started all 16 games in the Stonehill goal this season and ranks fourth among NEC leaders with her 12.70 goals against average and 9.31 saves per game, while her .457 save percentage ranks seventh. She has played 836:07 in goal and collected a team-high 42 ground balls to rank third in the NEC and seven caused turnovers. Senior Karly King leads the Skyhawks defense in front of Smith with a team-high 18 caused turnovers (6th), adding 34 ground balls (5th) in 15 games played.
Fisher leads Saint Francis and ranks third among NEC scoring leaders with her 59 points, ranking second in goals with 46 to go with 17 assists. She ranks seventh in the Conference with her team-high 60 draw controls, adding 12 ground balls and seven caused turnovers. Senior Danielle Hernandez ranks third in the NEC with her team-high 24 assists, adding 16 goals for 40 points, while postgrad Lizzie Fisher ranks ninth among NEC goal scoring leaders with 30, adding five assists for 39 points.
Coughlin has played all 899:33 in the Saint Rose goal and is second in the NEC with her 10.00 saves per game and .482 save percentage, while ranking fifth with her 10.75 GAA. Sophomore Bella Burke leads the Red Flash with 24 caused turnovers (4th NEC) and 31 ground balls, while adding 31 ground balls and 18 draw controls in 15 games.
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2024 Northeast Conference
Women's Lacrosse Tournament
First Round
Sunday, April 28 (at higher seeds)
Games broadcast on NEC Front Row
#5 Saint Francis (8-7, 7-3 NEC) at #4 Stonehill (8-8, 7-3 NEC), Noon
#6 Wagner (5-10, 5-5 NEC) at #3 Le Moyne (9-8, 8-2 NEC), Noon
Semifinals
Thursday, May 2
hosted by Sacred Heart University | Campus Field | Fairfield, Conn.
ESPN+ & NEC Front Row
Lowest Remaining Seed at #1 Sacred Heart (10-5, 9-1 NEC), 1 p.m.
Remaining First Round Winner vs. #2 LIU (9-7, 9-1 NEC), 4 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, May 4
hosted by Sacred Heart University | Campus Field | Fairfield, Conn.
ESPN+ & NEC Front Row
Semifinal Winners, 1 p.m.
