#5 LIU Post Knocks Off Field Hockey in NE10 First Round

Links: Box Score

BROOKVILLE, N.Y.  – The fifth-seeded Merrimack College field hockey program travelled to fourth-seeded and No. 5 LIU Post on Tuesday afternoon for the opening round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship, dropping a 9-3 contest to the Pioneers.

The Basics
Score: LIU Post 9, Merrimack 3
Records: Merrimack (11-7) | LIU Post (16-3)
Location: BFCU Stadium | Brookville, N.Y.  

2017 NE10 Field Hockey Championship Schedule
Tuesday, October 31 – First Round
Game 1:  #6 Assumption at #3 Pace | 4:00 PM
Game 2:  #4 LIU Post def. #5 Merrimack, 9-3

Friday, November 3 – Semifinals 
Game 3:  Game 2 winner at #1 Saint Anselm | 6:00 PM
Game 4:  Game 1 winner at #2 Stonehill | 6:00 PM

Sunday, November 5 – Championship (to be held at highest remaining seed) ­
Game 5:  Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner 

Rapid Recap

• Forty seconds into the day, LIU Post scored on its first shot of the game when Alyssa Lopresti hit a shot that rose over the blocker of sophomore Katharina Ohmen (Bremen, Germany)  
• In a span of 61 seconds, Merrimack rapidly took the lead. After a penalty corner, junior Delaney Yule (Southbury, Conn.) sent a centering feed that senior Rylie Hammond (Phillipston, Mass.) pounced on to tie the game. Immediately, following, senior Taylor Simpson (York, Maine) broke out on the counter, and took a shot from just inside the arc that beat the Pioneers' keeper and gave the visitors a 2-1 lead in the eighth minute
• LIU's leading scorer Emily Miller tied the game four minutes later, 2-2, netting her 31^st goal of the year
• The 25^th minute saw the Pioneers take two shots, one which was saved by Ohmen and a second which was stopped on the goal line by Yule. LIU won a corner as a result of the play, however, and scored off it to take the 3-2 lead that it held at halftime
• Similar to the start of the game, LIU took just 75 seconds to score in the second half. Ohmen made a high-quality save on a point-blank shot, but the rebound went to the left side where a Pioneer scored on the second chance
• The Pioneers added two more goals over a 55-second span to pick up their fifth and sixth of the game in the 42^nd minute. LIU would tack on three more over the remainder of the final stanza
• Off a penalty corner, Merrimack returned to the scoresheet to net its third of the day with 7:44 to play when junior Samantha Bartush (Norwalk, Conn.) sent a shot in front that Hammond deflected in

Team Leaders (MC // LIU)

• Goals: Rylie Hammond (2) // Emily Miller (6)
• Assists: TwoTied (1)  // Two Tied (2)
• Points: Hammond (4) // Miller (12)
• Defensive Saves: Delaney Yule (1) // None
• Saves: Katharina Ohmen (8) // Rachel Vellis (8)

Notes and Notables

• Hammond finished her career with a team-leading 20 goals and 43 points, collecting the most points for a Warrior in a single season since 2013 and just the sixth 40-point season in program history
• With her 20^th tally of the season, Hammond became just the third student-athlete ever at Merrimack to record a 20-goal campaign
• Simpson finished her season with 12 goals and 32 points. She moved into fourth place on Merrimack's all-time scoring list, totaling 115 in her career
• Ohmen's sophomore campaign ended with an eight-save effort, posting a career-high setting 122 saves on the season
• Yule's seventh defensive save of the year occurred in the first half, ranking in a tie for second all-time in a single season