March 20, 2008
Final Stats
FAIRFIELD, CT (March 20, 2008) - Sacred Heart got three goals apiece from senior Liz Ottey (Baltimore, MD) and sophomore Carissa Hauser (East Northport, NY) on the way to a 12-9 win over Monmouth Thursday afternoon in the Northeast Conference opener for both schools. The Pioneers built a 7-3 lead at the half and were helped by a 12 save afternoon from sophomore goalie Chelsea Wagner (Aurora, CO) as they snap a six-game losing streak to the Hawks in the all-time series between the two teams.
It took nearly seven and a half minute for either team to get their offense untracked but it was the Pioneers (3-5, 1-0 NEC) who found the back of the cage first, rattling off the game's first three goals. Hauser, back after missing the last five games with a foot injury, got the scoring underway at 22:42 off a feed from junior Mary Montesarchio (Cortlandt Manor, NY), the first of four assists on the day for the SHU captain.
The senior combination of Katie Salamone (Baltimore, MD) and Alyssa Harris (Kings Park, NY) hooked-up for SHU's second goal at 20:36 followed by Ottey's first just 34 seconds later off a Montesarchio feed. MU's Megan Brennan briefly held up the Pioneer run with an unassisted marker at 18:44 but SHU came right back tacking on another three-straight for a 6-1 lead with 10:33 to go. Hauser scored her second off a pass from Salamone while Ottey and junior Meghan McCaffrey (Garden City, NY) both scored from the 8meter free position.
Brennan single handily tried carrying the Hawks (4-3, 0-1 NEC) back in it with back-to-back goal at 9:07 and 8:05, the first unassisted and the second from Ali Pollock to pull within 6-3. SHU struck again before the halftime horn as McCaffrey buried her second free-position goal at 2:44 to send the Pioneers into the break up 7-3.
Salamone got SHU on the board just 18 seconds into the second half with an unassisted goal to ignite a flourish of scoring from both teams in the first three and a half minutes of play. Hauser tacked on her third of the day, unassisted, at 27:51 but when the dust settled, Hawk goals by Perry DeWitt, Rachel Feirstein and Pollock had MU down 9-6 with 26:25 to play.
Junior Amanda Williams (Monroe, CT) and Ottey gave the Pioneers some more breathing room with goals at 21:57 and 21:08, off passes from Hauser and Montesarchio, respectively. The Pioneer defense did a tremendous job all afternoon holding the NEC scoring leader, Megan Nutter, in check. Nutter finally broke through at 19:22 with an unassisted score to pull within 11-7. Neither team would score over the next 11 minutes before DeWitt pulled her team to within 11-8 finishing a pass from Renae Hill.
The Pioneers tacked on one more goal as Montesarchio found Williams after splitting a double team for a score at 5:53 making it 12-8. MU's Nutter closed the scoring at 1:27 with an unassisted score but Wagner and the SHU defense stood tall over the games final minutes ensuring the victory.
The shots were even on the afternoon, each team firing off 27 while the Pioneers held a 14-9 edge on draws. SHU did turn the ball over 19 times and clear just 14-of-20 chances but solid goalkeeping and stingy defense ruled the day.
Sacred Heart is right back in action on Saturday afternoon playing host to Mount St. Mary's. The opening draw is set for approximately 2:30 pm, immediately following the SHU men's lacrosse game against Robert Morris.
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