Box Score BOX SCORE
When and Where: April 19, 2016 – Easton, Mass. (W.B. Mason Stadium)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 15, Stonehill College 10
Records: SNHU 10-4 (6-4 Northeast-10), Stonehill 6-7 (4-6 Northeast-10)
Junior goalkeeper Nicole Kennedy (Windham, Maine) racked up a career-best 22 saves, while classmates Casey Duggan (Framingham, Mass.) and Courtney Nivala (Westminster, Mass.) both reached career highs in goals, to lead the Southern New Hampshire University women's lacrosse team to a 15-10 victory against 18th-ranked Stonehill College on Tuesday at W.B. Mason Stadium.
Duggan scored five goals, while Nivala added four strikes. Sophomore Alexa Bedell (Londonderry, N.H.) registered four points with two goals and two assists, with freshman Kristin Wilder (Framingham, Mass.) adding three goals.
Duggan scored all of her goals in the opening 15:52 to stake Southern New Hampshire to a 6-0 lead. Bedell contributed a goal and two helpers during the stretch. Nivala added her first of the day at the 11:04 mark to give the Penmen a commanding 7-0 advantage.
Stonehill scored three of the next four goals before Bedell potted a free-position goal with 2:12 left before the break as SNHU brought a 9-3 advantage into the half.
The Skyhawks opened the second-half scoring with two of the first three goals, but the Penmen responded with three straight, including two from Nivala and one from Wilder, to bump the lead back to 13-5 with 16:03 remaining.
Stonehill scored four of the next five, with Rebecca Matheson scoring three times and assisting on a goal, to make it a five-score game with 4:07 to play. Wilder would score with 3:45 to go and Caitlin Sweeney answered with her second of the contest just 31 seconds later, but the Skyhawks would run out of time.
Notes:
- The Penmen keep pace with the 2009 team, which began the season 10-4, for the best 14-game start to a campaign.
- The 10 wins are the most in a season for the program since it went 13-5 during the 2009 campaign.
- SNHU has captured eight of its last 11, including five of its last six.
- Bailey Herr stopped two of the 10 shots she faced over the opening 27:11, while Kaitlyn Hess turned aside two of nine shots in the final 32:49.
-Kennedy's 22 saves – one more than the 21 she amassed March 19 in a 14-10 win at Pace – are the most since Hannah Moriarty turned away a program-record 25 shots at Merrimack College on May 1, 2010.
- Stonehill outshot Southern New Hampshire, 36-22, including 22-9 in the second half, while the Penmen held a 14-13 edge in draw controls.
- Bedell owns an 11-game point streak, during which she has amassed 34 goals and 16 assists for 50 points.
- Wilder leads the Northeast-10 in goals (61), while ranking third in points (67).
-Bedell ranks fifth in points (60), while senior Alexa Allen (E. Longmeadow, Mass.) is fourth in assists (23). Kennedy is leading the conference with 162 saves and a save percentage of .521, while ranking third in wins (10).
Up Next:
The next home game for the Penmen is Saturday, April 23 (1 p.m.) when they play host to American International College at Larkin Field in their One Love game that will raise money for the One Love Foundation, as well as awareness for domestic violence.
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