MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Bridget Davis (Mansfield, Mass.) converted a penalty stroke in the seventh minute to stake the Hawks to a 1-0 lead, but the Saint Anselm College field hockey team was doubled up by fourth-ranked Stonehill College, 4-2, Tuesday evening at Grappone Stadium.
The Hawks sink to 6-7 on the season, including 2-6 in Northeast-10 play, while the Skyhawks soar to 13-2, 7-1 NE-10.
Davis put Saint Anselm on top, 1-0, just 6:12 into the contest when she snapped a penalty stroke past Stonehill goalkeeper Elizabeth Genovese.
The Skyhawks answered midway through the 15th minute when Sarah Morse inserted the ball off a penalty corner and Erika Kelly sent a high blast from the top of the circle into the left side of the net to even things at 1.
The game stayed that way until the middle of the 49th minute when Morse and Kelly once again connected off a penalty corner, with Kelly sending a low drive into the right side of the cage to make it 2-1.
Kelly then picked up the hat trick and made it 3-1 exactly three minutes later when the Skyhawks were awarded a penalty stroke and she lifted the ball into the top-left corner of the net.
Junior Colleen Sears (Danvers, Mass.) pulled the Hawks within one at 3-2 with 7:41 remaining when she slapped a ball through traffic from the right side and past Genovese.
Lauren Giordano sealed it with 2:21 remaining, however, when she received a feed from Elizabeth Thornton and put a long shot through Kate Sears to nudge the score to 4-2.
Kate Sears made 14 saves for the Hawks, while Genovese topped five shots.
Stonehill outshot Saint Anselm, 23-8, including 13-3 in the second half, and held a 14-6 advantage in penalty corners, including 8-3 in the second stanza.
The Hawks are back in action Saturday, Nov. 8 at 11 a.m. when they break from Northeast-10 play to take on Dowling College. The next home game for the Hawks is Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 4 p.m. when they play host to Franklin Pierce University 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.
