Senior forward Claire Hourihan has matched her own single-season record with 20 goals this season and is just four shy of the program's career record of 53. |
Stonehill Set to Host Four Nationally-Ranked Teams for NE-10 Field Hockey Final Four
Top-seeded Skyhawks to face fourth-seeded Merrimack on Saturday at 11 a.m.
EASTON, Mass. (October 29, 2009) - Four nationally-ranked field hockey programs will call Stonehill College's W.B. Mason Stadium home this weekend as Stonehill proudly hosts the 2009 Northeast-10 Conference field hockey championship semifinal and final rounds on Saturday, October 31, and Sunday, November 1.
Top-seeded and host Stonehill (16-3, 9-1 NE-10), ranked third in this week's Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II poll, will battle fourth-seeded and 8th-ranked Merrimack College (13-7, 7-3 NE-10) in the first of two semifinals on Saturday at 11 a.m. Second-seeded and No. 6-ranked Bentley University (14-4, 8-2 NE-10) will face third-seeded and 5th-ranked University of Massachusetts Lowell (15-4, 7-3 NE-10) at 2 p.m. Saturday's winners will advance to Sunday's Championship at noon.
Saturday's matches will be webcast live on a pay-per-view basis via www.stonehillskyhawks.tv for $5.99 per game. The Northeast-10 will broadcast Sunday's championship live on www.northeast10.tv as well as www.stonehillskyhawks.tv free of charge.
Admission for all games this weekend will be $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for senior citizens and children ages 12-18, while students with valid ID will be admitted for $1.00. The first 200 Stonehill students each day will be admitted free of charge courtesy of the College's Office of Student Affairs.
Senior All-American Jackie Ladino enters the postseason just one assist shy of the program record with 34 over her four years. |
Stonehill, ranked first in the NCAA Division II North Regional rankings for the fifth-straight week, enters the postseason winners of six-straight and 16 of its last 17 having claimed its second NE-10 regular season crown. The Skyhawks lead the Conference with a 1.09 team goals against average, while ranking third in scoring average with 2.76 goals per game. Stonehill leads all of Division II in penalty corners, averaging 13.74 per game, while conceding just 4.37 per contest.
Stonehill, which has posted an 8-0 record at home this season, seeks its second Northeast-10 Tournament championship this weekend. The Skyhawks were declared co-champions with UMass Lowell in 2005. This weekend marks Stonehill's eighth appearance in the NE-10 semifinals, earning a first round bye for the third time since the field expanded to six teams in 2000. The Skyhawks have reached the championship game twice.
Seniors Claire Hourihan (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville North) and Jackie Ladino (North Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) lead the offensive charge for Stonehill. Hourihan leads the team and ranks second in the NE-10 with her program-record matching 20 goals (4th nationally) to go with three assists for 43 points (5th), which ranks third in the NE-10, while her ten game-winning goals lead the Conference. Ladino, an NFHCA All-American last season has added 11 goals (9th NE-10) and five assists for 27 points (9th).
Sophomore Kathryn Nelson (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) has added nine goals and three assists for 21 points, while junior Courtney Foley (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial) has chipped in five goals and seven assists for 17 points.
Seniors Stephanie Kott (Rutland, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) and Ashley March (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring-Ford) along with junior Laura Noce (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) lead a Stonehill defensive unit which ranks third nationally for team goals against average with a Conference-best five shutouts. The defense has held opposing teams to just 6.1 shots per game - only 3.6 on goal per contest. Kott, a four-time NE-10 Defensive Player of the Week, also leads the Skyhawks with eight assists - good for fourth in the Conference (10th nationally).
Senior back Stephanie Kott has earned NE-10 Defensive Player of the Week honors four times this fall. |
Junior goalkeeper Courtney Osier (South Dennis, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth) has backboned the top defensive unit in the NE-10 while playing all but 60:33 of Stonehill's minutes in goal this season. She leads the NE-10 and ranks third nationally with her 0.98 goals against average and five shutouts, while posting a .695 save percentage over 1,284:27.
Merrimack reached the semifinals with a 2-1 victory over fifth-seeded Adelphi University in the opening round of the NE-10 Tournament in North Andover yesterday. Sophomore Sarah Salatto (Guilford, Conn./Guilford) and freshman April Daugherty (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln) scored goals to put the Warriors up 2-0 and then held on the rest of the way. Freshman Kerri Bergquist (Mashpee, Mass./Mashpee) made four saves to preserve the Warriors first semifinal appearance.
Merrimack ranks second in the NE-10 with 3.18 goals per game, while ranking sixth with a 2.38 team goals against average. Daugherty and fellow freshman Jen Otis (Penacook, N.H./Merrimack) lead the Warriors offense. Daugherty has dished a Conference-best 15 assists to go with 12 goals (7th NE-10) for 39 points (4th), while Otis has added 15 goals (6th) and seven assists (6th) for 37 points (5th). Senior Jaclyn Germano (Westwood, Mass./Westwood) has chipped in a team-best 16 goals (4th) to go with four assists for 36 points (6th).
Bergquist has played all 1,410:27 in Merrimack's goal in her first collegiate season and posted a 2.38 goals against average (6th) and Conference-best .793 save percentage and 9.20 saves per game with four shutouts (3rd).
These two teams played their lone regular season matchup just last week with Stonehill posting a 1-0 victory over Merrimack thanks to a Hourihan goal off a penalty corner 5:02 into the second half. Osier made two saves (one each half) to preserve the shutout, while Bergquist finished with 11 stops in goal for the Warriors. Saturday marks the first ever postseason meeting between the two programs.
