#3 Stonehill Defeats Franklin Pierce, 3-0
Howard makes a career-high 11 saves to keep the Ravens in the game
|
Stephanie Howard made a
career-high 11 saves on Tuesday against Stonehill. |
RINDGE, N.H. (September 4,
2007) – The Franklin Pierce University field hockey
team dropped a 3-0 decision to Stonehill College, ranked third in
the latest STX/NFHCA national Div. II poll, on Tuesday afternoon at
Sodexho Field. Raven junior goaltender Stephanie Howard
(Norwalk, Conn./Norwalk) made a career-high 11 saves and
held the Skyhawks scoreless over the final 60:31 to keep her team
close.
The homestanding Ravens had the first scoring opportunity of the
game with a penalty corner only 25 seconds into the match, but the
Skyhawks held control of play for a majority of the afternoon. The
visitors scored their first goal of the match at the 8:33 mark of
the first half, as Caitlin Gleason (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown)
took a pass from teammate Kerri Sullivan (Goffstown,
N.H./Goffstown) near the left post and beat Howard to the bottom
corner.
Stonehill scored twice more before halftime to account for the
final score. Brittany Dibble (East Schodack, N.Y./Columbia) notched
her first goal of the season at 13:19, as she took a pass from
Gleason and beat Howard low to the right side from about six yards
out. Gleason also was a part of the third Skyhawk goal, as she fed
Claire Hourihan (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville North) at the
29:29 mark.
After that goal, however, the Raven defense prevented another ball
from finding the back of the net. Howard, in only her third
collegiate appearance in goal, stopped the final seven Stonehill
shots and kept her team in the game. She finished with 11 saves,
while Stonehill’s Dani Ryder (Gloucester, Mass./Tantasqua)
did not make a save but earned her fifth win of the season by
playing the first 63:56 of the match.
Stonehill held an 11-0 edge in shots on goal and also had 24
penalty corners to the Ravens’ four.
Franklin Pierce (0-3, 0-3 NE-10) returns to action on Thursday
with another tough test, as the Ravens travel to Waltham, Mass. to
take on ninth-ranked Bentley at 7 p.m. Stonehill (5-0, 3-0 NE-10)
continues its road trip on Saturday afternoon with a match against
conference foe Merrimack.