When and Where: September 6, 2015 – Manchester, N.H. (Larkin Field)
Score: Southern New Hampshire 6, Saint Thomas Aquinas College 0
Records: SNHU 1-0, STAC 0-2

Sophomore Amaris Taylor (Tulsa, Okla.) recorded her first career hat trick, and the Southern New Hampshire University field hockey team kicked off its 2015 season with a 6-0 victory over Saint Thomas Aquinas College on Sunday.

The Penmen opened the scoring just over 13 minutes into the contest, as freshman Cassidy Huckins (Boscawen, N.H.) collected a feed from classmate Lindsey Poirier (South Berwick, Maine) to give the hosts all the offense they would need. Sophomore Erin Frost (East Andover, N.H.) staked SNHU to a 2-0 advantage with two seconds remaining in the first half when she split a pair of Spartan defenders and beat goalkeeper Kaitlyn Gee for her first of the year.

Taylor increased the Penmen lead to three midway through the second before she set up graduate student Alanna Lovejoy (Derry, N.H.) with 14:42 left to make it 4-0. Just over eight minutes later, Taylor found the back of the cage with help from senior Melissa Chisholm (Norwood, Mass.). With 9:28 to play, Taylor collected a rebound in front of the cage, settled the ball and flicked a shot to the top right corner to provide the final margin of victory.

Sophomore Jill Piacitelli (East Greenwich, R.I.) stopped seven shots in the Southern New Hampshire cage to earn the shutout victory.

Notes:
 - Southern New Hampshire outshot Saint Thomas Aquinas 28-13 and held a 22-7 edge in shots on goal.
 - The Penmen finished the game with a 12-7 advantage in penalty corners.
 - Taylor's three goals and seven points are a single-game program record. 

What's Next:

Southern New Hampshire is back in action on Monday when it welcomes Dowling College to Larkin Field for a noon-time faceoff.

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