Oct. 1, 2011

Box Score

Fourth-ranked UMass Lowell field hockey scored six second half goals in a 9-1 rout at Southern Connecticut St. on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Ali Ferraro (Kingston, N.Y.) scored a career-high four times in the victory.

Saturday marked the third time in the last four matches that the River Hawks have score nine or more goals. UMass Lowell improved to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in Northeast-10 play, keeping intact its 10-game winning streak. The Owls continue to slide, dropping to 3-8 on the year and 0-3 in conference action.

The River Hawks jumped on the board early in the contest, scoring at 3:40 into play. Rachel McCarthy (Reading, Mass.) set up Emily Painten (Walpole, Mass.) for the tally to take a 1-0 lead.

Southern Connecticut St. leveled the game just over two minutes later, scoring on a penalty corner at 5:50. Aleida Mapes (Springvale, Maine) delivered the ball to Erica Fisher (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) for the Owl's lone goal.

The scoring slowed down considerably from there as UMass Lowell pushed across two more goals to take a 3-1 advantage into the half. Melissa Effertz (Oceanside, Calif.) found the net for her eighth tally of the year, finishing a pass from Painten at 17:55. Then, Ferraro scored her first goal of the day at 22:37.

The halftime break seemed to invigorate the River Hawks as they unleashed six goals over the final 35 minutes.

The first tally came just 39 seconds after the whistle as Ferraro scored her second goal, converting on a pass by McCarthy.

Painten then rejoined the action, burying an unassisted tally shortly after a penalty corner at 42:22.

Ferraro went on to score twice in a 3:03 span to set a new career-high of four tallies in a game. The first came off of a pass by McCarthy at 49:09, followed by an unassisted score at 52:12. Ferraro's four tallies gave her 11 goals for the season, tied for second most in the NE-10.

As the game wound down, the River Hawks put in two more goals to push the final score to 9-1. McCarthy buried an unassisted goal at 54:55, then Kayla Littig (Carver, Mass.) joined the action with a tally from Cori Trask (East Bridgewater, Mass.) at 65:06.

For the day, UMass Lowell goalkeeper Melanie Hopkins (Harwich, Mass.) made three saves to improve to 10-1 on the season. The Owls used a pair of netminders as Nicole Scionti (Deep River, Conn.) stopped 4-of-12 shots and Robin Donaldson (Canton, Conn.) made five saves and allowed just one goal.

The River Hawks held a 23-6 advantaged in shots and out-cornered Southern Connecticut St., 9-5.

Up next, UMass Lowell returns home to host the Purple Knights from Saint Michael's on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. on Cushing Field.