Howard scores goal on penalty stroke in final collegiate
game
Box Score
Stephanie Howard scored on a first-half penalty stroke on
Wednesday afternoon at Southern Connecticut State.
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. (October 29, 2008)
– Senior defender Stephanie
Howard (Norwalk, Conn./Nowalk) scored on a first-half
penalty stroke on Wednesday afternoon, but the sixth-seeded
Franklin Pierce University field hockey team was defeated by
third-seeded and No. 8 nationally ranked Southern Connecticut State
in the quarterfinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference
Championships at Jess Dow Field. Sophomore forward Sara
Winterbottom (Burlington, Conn./Lewis Mills) scored twice in the
victory for SCSU.
Franklin Pierce opened the scoring with just over 12 minutes
remaining in the first half. During a scramble in front of the SCSU
cage, the Ravens were awarded a penalty stroke with 12:04 remaining
in the opening stanza. Howard took the stroke for Franklin Pierce
and beat SCSU sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Zarrella (Morris,
Conn./Wamogo) low on the left side for her third goal of the season
to give Franklin Pierce a 1-0 lead. The Ravens pushed the lead to
2-0 with 7:20 to play in the half as sophomore forward Nicole Henrique (Swansea, Mass./Joseph
Case) scored her fourth goal of the season off the rebound
of a shot by sophomore midfielder Ashley Moirano (Vero Beach, Fla./South
Burlington (Vt.)).
The Owls cut the lead to 2-1 with just 2:59 remaining in the half.
Winterbottom corralled the rebound of shot from senior midfielder
Grace Martha (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) and scored her team-leading
15th goal of the season to cut the lead in half. SCSU would then
tie the score just 64 seconds later. Sophomore midfielder Ann Berry
(Belfast, Maine/Belfast Area) was in the high slot and took a pass
from junior forward Lauren Karn (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington).
Berry ripped home a shot for her 10th goal of the season to tie the
game 2-2.
It looked like the game would head to halftime tied until Franklin
Pierce junior forward Ashley
Abernethy (Bellingham, Mass./Bellingham) forced a turnover
and ended up with a breakaway in the final seconds of the half.
Abernethy came down the left side and stuffed a shot into the cage
as time expired to give Franklin Pierce a 3-2 halftime lead.
Southern Connecticut State held a 10-8 edge in shots in the first
half.
SCSU tied the game up just 1:09 into the second half. Berry took a
penalty corner for the Owls and sent it to senior defender Molly
Daniels (Canton, Conn./Canton) at the top of the circle. Daniels
rifled a shot from there just inside the left post to score her
fourth goal of the season and tie the game, 3-3. Just 1:56 later,
SCSU would take a 4-3 lead when junior forward Kelly Anne
McCafferty (Durham, N.H./Oyster River) scored her fourth goal of
the season off a feed from Martha with 31:55 to play. The Owls
extended the lead to 5-3 with 17:11 to play in the game. Senior
forward Jennifer Sousa (Hartford, Conn./Wethersfield) found the
ball amidst a scrum in front of the cage and put home her sixth
goal of the season to extend the lead to two goals. SCSU put the
game on ice when Winterbottom knocked in a rebound for her second
goal of the game to give the Owls a 6-3 lead with 3:12
remaining.
SCSU held a 16-8 shots advantage in the second half and a 26-16
edge over the full 70 minutes.
With the loss, the Ravens conclude their season at 7-13 (7-11
NE-10). Southern Connecticut State (13-8, 12-6 NE-10) advances to
the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships at
Massachusetts Lowell on Saturday, Nov. 1. The Owls will face
Bentley at 3 pm. At Cushing Field in Lowell, Mass.
