Oct. 28, 2011

Box Score

Sophomore GK Melanie Hopkins (Harwich, Mass.) stopped four shots in the first 12 minutes and saved a penalty stroke later in the first half to backstop No. 2 UMass Lowell over No. 6 Stonehill Friday afternoon in the Northeast-10 Conference Field Hockey Tournament Semifinal at Warrior Field.

With the victory, UMass Lowell earns its eighth trip to the NE-10 Championship match in nine years Sunday at 12:00 and will play No. 1 Merrimack, a 5-2 winner over No. 5 American International.

The River Hawks improved to 16-3 overall while Stonehill slipped to 10-10.

Regardless of Sunday’s outcome, UMass Lowell is expected to receive its ninth straight bid to the NCAA Championship, to which the bids are announced Monday at 2:00 on www.ncaa.com.

“I thought it was an evenly matched battle,” said head coach Shannon Hlebichuk. “We just finished on more of our opportunities than they did.”

UMass Lowell came away from an early onslaught unscathed as Stonehill outshot the River Hawks 7-1 in the first 12 minutes, four of which were saved by Hopkins.

The River Hawks found their momentum and came back with six straight shots, but averted disaster in the 26th minute when Hopkins thwarted a penalty stroke by sophomore M Devin Ingersoll to her right and out of play.

“Melanie came up with some great saves and kept us in the game,” Hlebichuk noted. “She kept our feet underneath us.”

Roughly four minutes later, UMass Lowell opened the scoring when senior D Kayla Littig (Carver, Mass.) tipped in a pass from sophomore F Melissa Effertz (Oceanside, Ca.) to give the River Hawks momentum into the break.

Against the run of play, the Skyhawks leveled when senior F Caitlin O’Keeffe beat the defense down the right side and converted over Hopkins. Just 88 seconds later, however, sophomore F Ali Ferraro (Kingston, N.Y.) sent a penalty corner to junior D Sarah Wilcox (Old Town, Maine) who beat a pair of defenders tucked past junior GK Kaitlyn Curtis for a 2-1 edge in the 41st minute.

The River Hawks kept up the pressure thereafter – they outshot Stonehill 10-1 over the next 19 minutes – and it paid in the 60th minute when freshman F Bianca Jones (Watertown, Mass.) dribbled into the area and finished nicely for a 3-1 lead.

Stonehill regained momentum late on and fired seven straight shots off of five corners, with Hopkins called into action once.

“Once we got that first goal, we felt the momentum,” Hlebichuk said. “By the third one we really settled in and did a good job of containing their offense.”

UMass Lowell outshot Stonehill, 22-16 overall and 12-7 on target. Hopkins had six saves while Curtis stopped nine shots.