STOCKTON ADVANCES IN ECAC TOURNAMENT WITH 4-0 WIN

Rachel Carlson

No. 2 seed Richard Stockton (14-6-4) advanced to the semifinals of the ECAC Metro tournament with a solid 4-0 victory over No. 7 seed St. Joseph’s-Long Island (10-10-1).

With all of the goals being scored in the first half, the Ospreys received balanced scoring as four different players struck for tallies.

Jessica Balnis (Dorothy/Buena) broke the scoreless tie 17:12 into the game. Balnis netted the rebound to give the Ospreys a 1-0 lead after Jess McQuillen (Tabernacle/ Seneca) hit the cross bar with her shot. Just 35 seconds later, Rachel Carlson (Mullica Twp./Oakcrest) buried a shot after McQuillen fed her with a nice pass.

Leah Braidi (Vineland/Sacred Heart) scored her third goal of the season on a blast from 35 yards out at 37:45. Brianna DeStefano (Williamstown/Williamstown) had the assist on the tally. With just 20 seconds remaining before the break, senior Lindsay Garbowski (Voorhees/Eastern) scored her first career goal after Jacque Becker’s (Hamilton/Steinert) shot found its way to Garbowski who hit the net for a 4-0 Stockton lead.

Sarah Hinkle (Mullica Hill/Paul VI) started in goal for Stockton, playing the entire first half and earning the victory. Hinkle was followed in net by Cara Parliament (Manchester/ Manchester Twp.) and Brittany Boyle (Pemberton/Pemberton) who shared the net minding duties for the second half. Boyle made the only save of the night for Stockton. Kayla Flowers made six saves for the Golden Eagles in the loss.

Stockton will travel to No. 1 seed NYU, the host for the remainder of the tournament, where the Ospreys will face No. 3 seed Mount St. Mary for an ECAC semifinal match on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:30 am.