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No. 7 Skyhawks Silence Purple Knights 18-0
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| Liza Gross and
Mary Maloney combined for five goals and two
assists in the Skyhawks 18-0 shutout of St. Michael's |
No. 7 Skyhawks Silence Purple Knights 18-0
Easton, Mass. - The seventh ranked Skyhawks used a suffocating defense and potent offense to dispatch of St. Michael's 18-0 to record their first shutout in two years in a downpour at W.B. Mason Stadium on Friday afternoon.
In a constant rain the Stonehill defense, led by senior co-captain Rebecca Cottam (Belmont, Mass.) shut down St. Michael's allowing them just two first half shots on goalie Justine Ferland (Portsmouth, N.H.), and kept them without a shot in the second half.
Stonehill, meanwhile, had little trouble scoring as senior Mary Maloney (Great River, N.Y.) broke the scoreless tie three and a half minutes in on a free position attempt.
The goal opened the flood gates, as both junior Liza Gross (Loundonville, N.Y.) and freshman Sarah Galligan (West Newbury, Mass.) scored twice. Senior Michelle Kelly (Mendham, N.J.) added another to push the Skyhawk lead to 6-0 before the Purple Knights got their first shot of the game at the 21:43 mark.
St. Michael's only got one more shot in the half as the defense of Cottam, Jackie Craig (Rocky Point, N.Y.), Devin O'Leary (Framingham, Mass.), Jackie Ladino (North Dartmouth, Mass.), Jesse Ragnio (Andover, Mass.), Michelle Salmon (East Islip, N.Y.), Emily Kerwin (Bristol, R.I.) and Valerie Xenakis (Warner, N.H.) hounded St. Michael's, into 12 first half turnovers, shutting down an offense which had scored 22 goals over their last two games.
The Skyhawk offense continued to roll as they scored eight more goals before the half, including two apiece from freshmen Sam Lynott (Holbrook, N.Y.) and Carly Keely (Agawam, Mass.).
In the second half, Stonehill scored four times before bad weather forced officials to call the game with just under 12 minutes remaining.
Kelly finished with four goals and two assists, while Gross had another good all-around performance with three goals, two assists, four ground balls and four draw controls. Ferland finished with two saves in 30 minutes of work.
The Skyhawks finished with 33 shots on goal and had 19 draw controls to St. Michael's one as they improved to 6-1 on the season and 6-0 in the NE-10. Stonehill returns to action Tuesday when they travel to Merrimack to take on the Warriors at 7:00 p.m.
