Sophomore Sarah Hickey stopped six shots in today's NE-10 Quarterfinal at UMass Lowell. |
NE-10 TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL
Stonehill Falls at #23 UMass Lowell, 1-0
Gillis posts shutout as third-seeded River Hawks edge sixth-seeded Skyhawks
LOWELL, Mass. (November 1, 2009) - Third-seeded University of Massachusetts Lowell, ranked 23rd in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll, advanced with a 1-0 victory over sixth-seeded Stonehill College, ranked ninth in the NSCAA/adidas East Regional poll, in quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference women's soccer tournament at Cushing Field today.
UMass Lowell (12-4-3, 10-3-2 NE-10) advances to Thursday's semifinal round where it will face second-seeded and No. 22-ranked Franklin Pierce University with a trip to the NE-10 Championship on the line. Stonehill ends its season with a 10-8-1 record overall, 8-6-1 in Conference play, having posted a 6-1-1 clip since the start of October.
Senior goalkeeper Jamie Gillis (North Billerica, Mass./Billerica) made three saves to preserve her 13th shutout of the season for UMass Lowell. Sophomore Sarah Hickey (Lee, Mass./Lee) finished with six stops in goal for Stonehill as UML posted a 20-9 advantage in shots, which were even at eight a side in the second half.
The match was scoreless until just past the hour mark, when UMass Lowell broke through with a goal on the counter-attack from senior Kelly Soper (Auburn, Mass./St. Peter Marian) at 61:57. She took a pass from senior Jenna McIntosh (Johnstown, N.Y./Johnstown), split two defenders and then slotted her fourth goal of the season inside the far post from the left channel.
Stonehill pushed forward for an equalizer that just wouldn't come against one of the top defenses in the NE-10. Sophomore Kristen Mahoney (Rehoboth, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth) and senior Kirsten Rene (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) had shots blocked in the final third and Rene had another bid drift just wide in the dying minutes.
