The Hawks (9-6; 7-0) came back and defeated Quinnipiac (5-8; 3-3) on Friday afternoon at Kessler Field. The final score was 11-7. Senior midfielder Sam Savona led the way for MU, tying a career-high with four goals on the day, including three in the second half. Junior midfielder Kaleigh Gibbons also had four points on three goals and an assist.
The blue and white took the early lead on a goal from senior midfielder Erica Abendschoen. The Bobcats answered quickly and scored four unanswered goals to take the lead 4-1.
The Hawks responded by going on a run of their own to tie the game. Sophomore midfielder Allison Stathius and Gibbons scored within a minute of each other to cut the deficit to 4-3. Savona scored her first goal of the match with an assist to sophomore Emily Barbieri, to tie the game. The Bobcats scored a late goal on a free position shot to bring a 5-4 lead into halftime.
MU started off the second half hot, scoring two quick goals to take the lead 6-5. Sophomore attacker Meaghan Hess scored the first, and less than a minute later, Savona scored her second of the game.
With just over 24 minutes to play, Quinnipiac’s Lianne Toomey tied the game at six. After that it was all Hawks. At the 19:09 mark, Savona scored her third goal of the game and put MU in front for good.
Gibbons scored two straight goals during a 5-0 stretch by the blue and white. Savona put away her fourth goal and junior attacker Danielle Rakowitz scored the final goal for the Hawks to win 11-7.
Net minder Katie Donohoe had eight saves on the day and Bobcats goalie Samantha Tilts stopped seven as MU held a slight shot advantage 23-20. The Bobcats committed 16 turnovers as the Hawks committed just 11.
Head Coach Denise Wescott was happy with how the team played as she stated, “Today’s win was a whole team effort. We are starting to become a team that is becoming more unpredictable. We don’t go to one or two things to win, if teams stop those things we go to something else.”
Wescott was happy with the defense and said the team is really starting to believe in themselves. “We’ve worked hard so I think we feel like we deserve some things, we are going after every team in this conference as hard as we can and we are capable,” Wescott said.
The Hawks played Sunday as they hosted Sacred Heart on senior day with a 12:00 pm start.
MU dismantled Sacred Heart (5-9; 3-4) 12-3 on Sunday afternoon on Kessler Field. Sophomores Barbieri and Karlee Dean led the way for the Hawks with five points each, both career-highs. The blue and white’s defense held Sacred Heart to only eight shots on goal all game.
Before the game began, seniors Gianna D’Urso, Kirstyn Urbas, Cassie Campasano and Savona were honored for playing their last regular season game on Kessler Field.
The first half saw little action as both teams were feeling each other out. The Hawks went into halftime with a slim 3-2 lead thanks to a Gibbons goal with 41 seconds left in the first frame.
However, the second frame was a different story, as the Hawks erupted for nine goals. MU started the second half with a goal from Dean, her first of the game. Sacred Heart answered right back as they won the next draw and ran down the field to score.
It was at this point when the blue and white went on a run and never looked back. They scored nine straight goals over the final 23:05 minutes of the game. Savona scored first, and then Dean scored three of the next four goals as the Hawks lead increased to 9-3.
Barbieri scored twice, and Rakowitz ended the game with her second goal of the afternoon as the Hawks won 12-3.
Wescott was happy with the defensive performance, “I was amazed at how well our defense played. Everything they tried at us we just turned them back. Besides that we were just creating a lot of turnovers. That’s probably the most I’ve seen our defense come up with possession and not even give up shots.”
MU heavily outshot the Pioneers 31-15, as net minder Donohoe made five saves to SHU goalie Kelly Keenan’s 12 saves.
The Hawks return to action when they travel to face Bryant Friday at 7:00 pm.
PHOTO COURTESY of Jim Reme
