#8 Field Hockey Ousted in NE-10 Semis by #3 Stonehill
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EASTON, MA – Following the first-ever Northeast-10
semifinal berth for the Merrimack College field hockey program, the
Warriors historic run came to a close with a 3-0 semifinal loss to
the top-seeded Stonehill Skyhawks on Saturday.
Upon completion of their record-setting 13-win season (13-8, 8-4
NE-10), the Warriors await the results of the NCAA Selection show
on Monday, November 2 at 2:00pm on NCAA.com to see if their
postseason will be prolonged.
Following suit with their league-leading 1.09 goals against
average, the Skyhawks held the Warriors scoreless for only the
second time this year. The only other time was the October 21
match-up between the Warriors and Skyhawks that ended 1-0.
Freshman goalkeeper Kerri Bergquist (Mashpee,
MA) tallied her tenth game with double-digit saves (12),
facing a healthy dose of Skyhawks. In the end, 18 penalty corners
surrendered proved too costly for the Warrior defense.
Through the first five minutes of action, the Warriors and
Skyhawks traded possessions until Merrimack conceded back-to-back
penalty corners that led to a Stonehill goal in the 5th minute from
Courtney Foley.
Bergquist kept the Warriors at an arm's length with a
number of acrobatic saves in the first 15 minutes of play, but time
of possession heavily favored the home team and limited scoring
chances for Merrimack.
Merrimack's best first half opportunities came on a
penalty corner at the 10-minute mark, but an illegal shot dashed
hopes of knotting the score.
Winning the offensive battle, Stonehill dominated the latter
half of the first frame as the Skyhawks out-shot the Warriors 8-1
in the first half. The Warriors also conceded eight penalty
corners and earned only two in the first half.
In the second half, it was the same Stonehill pressure that led
to a series of penalty corners and more sprawling saves from
Bergquist, before All-Conference First Teamer Jackie Ladino powered
one past the Warrior defense cleaning up the mess of a Skyhawk
penalty corner to make the score 2-0.
Later in the half, the Skyhawks added insurance with a
counter-attack off the Warriors second penalty corner of the game
in the 64th minute from Kathryn Nelson to come to the final of 3-0.
