EASTON, Mass. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College field hockey team was downed by the host Skyhawks from Stonehill College on Tuesday by a 3-2 margin.

Saint Anselm, the third-ranked team in NCAA Division II, falls for the first time in four matches this season, dipping to 1-1 against Northeast-10 Conference opponents. The eighth-ranked Skyhawks up their record to 3-1 on the year and to 2-0 within league play.

The Skyhawks took leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in the game and never looked back. The hosts became just the second team since the start of the 2019 season to score three goals against Saint Anselm and the first since Lindenwood (Mo.) on Oct. 6, 2019.

Saint Anselm appeared to cash in with a goal early in the first quarter, but a would-be tally by Maeve Murphy (Scituate, Mass.) was wiped off the board. The Hawks continued to apply significant pressure, firing 11 first-half shots while limiting the guests to just six, but Stonehill made its last shot of the second quarter count.

With just 17 seconds left in the first half, the Skyhawks converted a two-on-one opportunity off the stick of Claudia Crowe to propel her team to a 1-0 advantage at the break. The Hawks owned all of the first half's penalty corner opportunities, but were unable to find the back of the net.

The Skyhawks doubled their lead in the game's 40th minute as Madeleine McGee finished off their first penalty corner opportunity of the game, set up by Crowe and Elisha Brinkman, to forge ahead.

Sophomore Maddie Davis (Exeter, N.H.) cut into the Skyhawks lead, scoring for Saint Anselm off a pass from senior Emilie Martin (Yarmouth, Maine) at 43:05. However, the Skyhawks potted the eventual game-winning goal at 49:58 as Emily Ledoux pushed across a loose ball in a net-front scrum to create a 3-1 lead.

Saint Anselm fired a game-high nine shots in the fourth quarter. Senior Carly LaCasse (Sagamore Beach, Mass.) put one of those shots home to shrink the Stonehill lead to 3-2 with under 10 minutes to go, knocking home a rebound off a defensive save.

In the game's final three-plus minutes, the Hawks took four shots, but two of them were saved by Skyhawks backstop Abigail Campbell. Two other Hawks shot attempts missed the mark as one of them was blocked down and another was sent wide of the Stonehill cage.

Freshman Sidney Falterer (Fairfield, Conn.) drew the loss, making five saves on eight shots. Campbell made 11 saves in the victory for Stonehill with McGee logging two defensive saves.

Saint Anselm's contest at Adelphi on Saturday was postponed, meaning the Hawks will return to action on Sunday, Sept. 19 at East Stroudsburg. The Hawks will take on the seventh-ranked Warriors at high noon.