MANCHESTER, N.H. – Freshman Allia Connolly (Westford, Mass.) scored a career-high three goals to lead the Saint Anselm College field hockey team to a 6-1 victory against Southern Connecticut State University in both teams' Northeast-10 opener Saturday at Grappone Stadium.
The Hawks win their third straight to run their program-best start to 5-1 (1-0 NE-10), while the Owls sink to 1-6, 0-1 NE-10.
"Today was a very important game for us coming off a big win at Stonehill," said head coach Carolyn King. "We wanted to make sure that we had a lot of intensity and were really focused as we started our Northeast-10 conference play. I'm really happy with the way we played and how hard we worked today for the entire 70 minutes."
Connolly opened the scoring just 4:10 into the game as junior Meagan Halligan (No. Branford, Conn.) brought the ball up the left side and sent a pass from just inside the circle toward the front of the net that Connolly batted in past Southern Connecticut goalkeeper Audrey Dolloff.
The Hawks doubled their lead in the 25th minute when freshman Emma Kincaid (W. Bridgewater, Mass.) potted the first collegiate goal of her career. Junior Canada Stewart (Derry, N.H.) dribbled in from the right side and sent a feed to the left post for Kincaid, who swept it in to make it 2-0.
Saint Anselm brought that lead into the locker room and wasted no time making it 3-0 to start the second half as senior Bridget Davis (Mansfield, Mass.) scored just 1:19 in on a shot from the top of the circle.
Connolly tallied her second of the game in the 42nd minute after receiving a pass from junior Colleen Sears (Danvers, Mass.) and sending a hard shot from the right past Dolloff and into the left side that made it 4-0.
Connolly then stretched the lead to 5-0 in the 46th minute when she beat Dolloff with a shot after Sears tipped a Davis pass from the top-left of the circle to the right post.
Lauren Anderson put the Owls on the board in the 47th minute when her shot from the top of the circle made it through the defense and went 5-hole on senior goalkeeper Jessica Snow (Shrewsbury, Mass.).
The Hawks capped the scoring in the 62nd minute as freshman Jamie McNamara (Auburn, Mass.) picked up the first goal of her career by slapping in the ball at the left post, following a pass from the right side of the circle by junior Richelle Davis (Enfield, Conn.).
Sophomore goalkeeper Katherine Sears (Northboro, Mass.) made two saves and did not allow a goal over the 45:17 she played in net to improve to 5-1 with a 1.74 goals-against average and .800 save percentage. Snow only faced the one shot over the final 24:43 of action. Dolloff turned away 17 shots for the Owls.
Saint Anselm outshot Southern Connecticut, 28-4, including 18-3 in the second half, and held a 14-9 advantage in penalty corners.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Oct. 11 at 2:30 p.m. when they travel to take on Saint Michael's College. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. when they play host to Assumption College at Grappone. 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.
