The Pioneer Trail: Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014
Field Hockey vs. Southern New Hampshire - 2:30 p.m.The Pioneers sit atop the Northeast-10 standings as they play their first of three straight games at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium to close out the home portion of their schedule.
No. 5 LIU Post (11-2, 7-1 NE-10) defeated No. 9 Saint Michael's 1-0 on Saturday (Nov. 1) in Colchester, Vt. in a game that was more dominant than the score would indicate. The Pioneers outshot their opponents 21-0 including a 14-0 edge in shots on goal. Junior forward
Keliann Margiotta (Sewell, N.J.) provided the lone tally of the contest in the second half. Margiotta took a feed from graduate defender
Dani Crouse (Westville, South Africa) and maneuvered her way past the goalkeeper to notch the game-winner. Margiota led the team by taking ten shots, 8 of which were on goal. The Pioneers also led the Purple Knights in penalty corners by a 7-2 margin.
In the current four-game winning streak, Margiotta has been the offensive catalyst, scoring eight goals and adding three assists. The five-time NE-10 Player of the Week award-winner has a national-best 24 goals and 58 poins through 13 games this season, sporting a 4.46 points per game average that is also tops in the nation. As a team, the Pioneers have one of the most potent offenses in the country, scoring an average of 4.08 goals per game.
Southern New Hampshire (1-13, 0-7 NE-10) has taken its lumps in the program's first competitive season since 1981. The Penmen lost their last contest to Franklin Pierce on Saturday (Nov. 1) by a score of 6-1. Four first-half goals doomed SNHU to the defeat. Freshman midfielder Amaris Taylor (Tulsa, Okla.) is the team's leader with three goals and three assists, for a total of nine points. Junior forward Kaitlyn Ramsey (Warren, Mass.) paces the Penmen with four assists on the season.
This is the second time this season that LIU Post and SNHU have met, as the Pioneers came away with a 7-0 victory over the Penmen in New Hampshire on Sept. 13. Five different players scored for the Pioneers, led by Margiotta's four goals and two assists.