They captured the NE-10 Regular Season title with an unblemished 10-0 record in conference action and have earned the top seed in this year’s conference tournament. With the loss, the Hawks finish their season at 2-14 overall and 2-8 in NE-10 play.
With tonight’s victory, the River Hawks captured their first NE-10 Regular Season Championship since 2008 and third in the last four years. The title is UMass Lowell’s fourth Regular Season crown in program history (2005, 07, 08, 10).
Senior forward Sammy Macy (Tewksbury, Mass.) recorded a hat trick tonight, breaking the program record for points in a single season, finishing tonight’s game with 68 points (27g, 14a) on the year. The record was previously set by Macy herself, during her sophomore campaign in 2008, with 64 points (28g, 8a).
Freshman goalkeeper Melanie Hopkins (Harwich, Mass.) picked up her 15th shutout of the year, tying the NCAA Division II record for single season shutouts. The record is held by three other goalkeepers and was most recently accomplished by Bloomsburg’s Jamie Hartman in 2003.
Among its other broken records, this year’s team becomes the most offensively-dominant team in program history, having scored 103 goals this season, breaking the previous record of 98, set in 2008.
The River Hawks opened scoring as senior Macy buried her 25th tally of the year in the 7th minute of play. Classmate and NE-10 Player of the Week Katie Enaire (Amesbury, Mass.) dribbled the ball up the center of the field and hit Macy’s stick inside the circle, from the 25 yard line. The Saint Anselm goalkeeper came out to challenge her, but the forward dangled to the left and snuck the ball right behind her.
Macy scored again in the 21st minute of play, shooting through a crowd after a penalty corner. She grabbed a rebound through the cluster and knocked in her 26th of the year.
Enaire put the River Hawks up 3-0 with an acrobatic goal in the 27th minute of play, as classmate Liz Day (North Andover, Mass.) shot the ball towards the cage, and Enaire dove for the rebound, chipping it in from the baseline.
Junior Annie Hansbury (Plaistow, N.H.) notched one late in the half, off a penalty corner. Macy captured the ball at the center of the circle and passed out to Hansbury in the far right side for a clear bomb to put UMass Lowell up 4-0 to close the half.
In the 41st minute of play, senior Lizzy Ales (Arlington, Mass.) deflected in a high shot from Enaire to give her team the five-goal lead. Enaire had taken a shot and tried to chip in her own rebound, but the ball went high and Ales was able to tip it in for her 10th goal of the year.
Macy completed her hat trick, in the 45th minute of play, grabbing the rebound from a shot by NE-10 Rookie of the Week Rachel McCarthy (Reading, Mass.) at the baseline. The senior shot it across the goal, reaching the back of the cage in the far corner. Fellow senior Enaire struck again just moments later, tallying her 26th of the year off classmate Day’s pass through a crowd. With Day’s second assist of the night, she tallied her 100th career point.
Freshman Ali Ferraro (Kingston, N.Y.) netted UMass Lowell’s eighth goal of the night, receiving a free hit from classmate McCarthy at the center of the circle and knocking it to the back of the cage in the 50th minute of play.
Fellow freshman Janelle DeCamillis (Littleton, Mass.) netted the squad’s ninth tally of the game, assisted by Day in the 65th minute of play, while sophomore Emily Painten (Walpole, Mass.) followed up with UMass Lowell’s 10th and final tally of the night just under a minute later.
The River Hawks outshot Saint Anselm 34-5 in the game, as Hawk goalkeeper Megan Sullivan made 13 saves and allowed 10 goals. UMass Lowell’s Hopkins stopped all three shots she faced on the night. The River Hawks also out-cornered their opponent 9-3 in the tilt.
The 2010 UMass Lowell field hockey team becomes just the second team in the school’s modern era to finish its regular season undefeated and the team with the most wins in any team’s undefeated season. It is the first since the 1991 football team went 10-0 in the regular season and the first women’s program since the 1975 Lowell State College softball team went 16-0 in the regular season.
The squad will extend their season into the conference tournament, which they will receive a bye through the first round before hosting the 2010 Championship on Nov. 19 and 20. More detailed information on pairings, game times and ticket information will be posted on GoRiverHawks.com as it becomes available.
www.goriverhawks.com
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