Nov. 8, 2008
LOWELL – Sophomore F Sammy Macy (Tewksbury, MA) and senior F Jill Tierney (Newburyport, MA) spearheaded a five-goal outburst midway through the second half as No. 2 UMass Lowell defeated No. 3 Southern Connecticut, 6-3, Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Tournament first round at Cushing Field.
With the victory, the River Hawks advance to the Tournament semifinal Friday in Bloomsburg, PA, where they will face Northeast-10 Conference nemesis Bentley at 5:30.
No. 1 Bloomsburg will host the No. 2 Indiana (PA)-No. 3 Shippensburg winner Friday at 3:00. Indiana hosts Shippensburg Saturday night at 7:00.
Southern Connecticut, making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in five years, ends its season with a 13-9 record.
“I think the way our forwards responded was fantastic,” said UMass Lowell Head Coach Shannon Hlebichuk. “We had six players play forward today. We had diversity in scoring, which was nice.”
Adding to the triumph was the two goals and one assist by Macy, who set a school record for goals in season with her 26th, edging the previous mark of 25 set by Sara Hohenberger in 2005. With 26 goals and eight assists (60 points), Macy is also eyeing Hohenberger’s mark for points in a season (63).
The Owls jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first half and added another goal just 45 seconds into the second half. Sophomore M Ann Berry (Belfast, ME) opened the scoring in the fourth minute and Macy leveled in the 17th with help from sophomore D Jaime Hadley (Chelmsford, MA).
Berry then set up a goal by senior M Grace Martha (Cheshire, CT) in the 27th minute for a 2-1 lead which the Owls carried into the half.
“I wasn’t too concerned at that point,” Hlebichuk noted. “Our defense was caught flat a couple of times and our offense had opportunities that it just didn’t put away. We made some physical adjustments and talked about coming out in the second half and scoring early.”
It was the Owls who scored just 45 seconds into the second half, however, as sophomore F Sara Winterbottom (Burlington, CT) deflected a pass from freshman F Inga Stonga (East London, South Africa) for a 3-1 cushion.
“I just thought we had hit a wall,” Hlebichuk said. “But they knew they had it in them to come back. No one hung their heads in frustration. We had 34 minutes left and we were capable of scoring goals.”
Ten minutes later, the River Hawks responded with three goals in under three minutes to take a 4-3 lead.
Sophomore F Liz Day (North Andover, MA) tipped in a shot by Macy in the 45th minute and Macy converted an unassisted backhand a two minutes after to knot the score at 3-3.
Fifty-five seconds later, junior F Jaci Moulton (Baldwinville, MA) scored the clinching goal off a feed from freshman D Annie Hansbury (Plaistow, NH) to complete the flurry.
“We just needed one, and then it was like a freight train coming down,” Hlebichuk noted. “Our forwards possessed and finished.”
Tierney and senior M Missy Seeley (East Hampstead, NH) then combined on two more goals, the first in the 56th minute when Tierney converted the rebound off a saved shot by Seeley.
Three minutes later, Tierney redirected Seeley’s attempt to cap the scoring.
UMass Lowell outshot Southern Connecticut, 32-7 overall and 15-6 on target. Sophomore G Amy Carbon (Bellingham, MA) stopped two shots before senior Danielle Dodier (Kensington, NH) came on the final 10 minute and made one save.
Sophomore Lauren Zarrella (Morris, CT) had nine saves for the Owls.
NCAA Tournament First Round
UMass Lowell 6, Southern Connecticut 3
At Lowell, MA
Goalkeepers
Amy Carbon (UML): 2 saves, 60:00
Danielle Dodier (UML): 1 saves, 10:00
Lauren Zarrella (SCSU): 9 saves, 70:00
