MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Elizabeth Sears (Danvers, Mass.) scored a pair of goals to lead the Saint Anselm College field hockey team to Sunday afternoon's 2-0 victory against Dowling College in its season opener at Grappone Stadium.

The Hawks open at 1-0, while the Golden Lions dip to 0-2.

Saint Anselm seized control just 2:49 into the contest when Sears received the insert off a corner at the top of the circle, deked the first defender and walked in a few paces before letting go of a low shot that snuck past Dowling goalkeeper Arianna Ovadia.

Sears doubled the Hawks' lead at the 25:13 mark off another corner play when she found the ball on her stick in the circle and launched a long floater that made it through traffic in front and into the back of the cage for the 2-0 lead.

The defense and sophomore goalkeeper Shauna Whittemore (Bennington, N.H.) made the offense stand up as Dowling only seriously threatened on one occasion. Whittemore stopped both shots she faced, while Ovadia racked up 14 stops.

The Hawks outshot the Golden Lions, 23-3, and held a 21-6 advantage in corners.

The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. when they travel to take on Merrimack College. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Sept. 14 at noon when they open Northeast-10 play against Long Island University-LIU Post at Grappone Stadium. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.