2005
NCAA NEW ENGLAND
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Senior
All-Americans Sonya
Hughes (Balbriggan, Ireland)
and Laura
Hislop (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
led Franklin Pierce tonight. Hughes netted two goals, while Hislop
finished with a goal and two assists.
With the match knotted at a goal apiece after the two sides
traded goals early in the match, Franklin Pierce erupted for three goals
in a span of 3:16 after the 70-minute mark. Junior Alex
Scavo (Toronto, Ontario)
started the barrage when she knocked in a rolling ball at the far post
off an attempted chip on the left side by Hislop that was heading wide
of the goal. Freshman back Kristen
Cilley (Belchertown, Mass./Belchertown)
was also credited with an assist as her long pass from the back over the
top of the Merrimack defense sent Hislop in on a break.
“In a 1-1 game I wanted to make sure it was going in,” said Scavo of her touch on Hislop’s chip that appeared like it may have been going in on its own. “I thought it was going to hit the post, but everyone else on the field said it was heading wide.”
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Hughes
scored her second just 1:13 later when she took a pass from junior Kristen
Lake (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) and
finished a drive from the right channel from 23-yards to the lower left
corner at 72:10. Hislop finished off the trifecta with a shot from the
top center of the 18 into the upper right corner at 74:13.
“We played well and kept it close, but then in three or four
minutes and then boom, boom, boom,” said Merrimack Head Coach Gabe
Mejail.
“We played our best to keep it close, but with their talent took over
and we couldn’t stop them.”
Hughes opened the scoring 7:53 into the match when she took a
square ball from Hislop on the left side and drove a shot from 20-yards
into the top shelf.
Merrimack answered off a set piece at 12:28 when senior Mckenzie
Hogan (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury)
headed in a free kick from junior Heather
Carr (Wakefield, R.I./South Kingstown)
at the far post. The Warriors scored on their lone shot in a first half
that Franklin Pierce finished with a 10-1 advantage. Sophomore Shannon
Rowan (Fair Haven, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven)
made five saves to keep Merrimack in the match, before giving way to
junior Caitlin
Stephan (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin)
for the second half. Stephen made one stop, while yielding the three
second-half goals.
Sophomore Jenna
Mello (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry)
made one save as Franklin Pierce finished with an 18-3 advantage in
shots for the night.
“I thought the second goal broke their back a little bit,” said Franklin Pierce Head Coach Jeff Bailey. “I was happy to get the third goal, but I thought we should have had two or three more in the first half. When you don’t put those away, sometimes before you know it you’re in (penalty kicks).”