EASTON, Mass.-- Tournament Most Valuable Player Sara Hohenberger (Windham, N.H.) was one of three goal scorers as third-seeded and sixth-ranked UMass Lowell claimed its fourth straight Northeast-10 Conference Field Hockey championship with a 3-1 victory over top-seeded and fourth-ranked Stonehill in the 2006 title match played Sunday afternoon at W.B. Mason Stadium.

Sophomore Jill Tierney (Newburyport, Mass.) gave the visiting River Hawks (18-4) a 1-0 lead 14:27 into the contest by netting her sixth marker of the season off a rebound after the host Skyhawks (17-4) had taken the first four shots of the contest. Hohenberger then converted a feed from senior Kim Villare (Chelmsford, Mass.) off a penalty corner in the 21st minute for her 23rd goal of the season to give UMass Lowell a 2-0 cushion at the break, and freshman Jaci Moulton (Baldwinville, Mass.) extended the visitors’ edge to 3-0 in the 47th minute when she tapped in a rebound off a shot by sophomore Michelle Harrington (Rockport, Mass.). Stonehill got on the board seven minutes later when junior Ashley Freeman (White River Junction, Vt.) converted a penalty stroke, but that proved to be the final score of the contest.

Senior Nicole Staiti (Barre, Mass.) picked up the win in goal for UMass Lowell with six saves on the afternoon, while junior Dani Ryder (Gloucester, Mass.) made nine stops in net on the day for Stonehill as the River Hawks outshot the Skyhawks by a 13-11 margin for the match. Each team had eight penalty corners on the afternoon, as UMass Lowell collected its seventh straight win and ended Stonehill’s 10-match winning streak.

Hohenberger was joined on the 2006 Northeast-10 all-tournament team by Staiti, Freeman, Bentley’s Alyssa Sliney, Saint Michael’s Ashley Webb, Bryant’s Deanne Viveiros and Merrimack’s Kristen Belair.

Both teams are expected to earn berths in the 2006 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship field, which will be announced on Monday afternoon. The top seed in the North Region earns a bye into the NCAA national semi-finals on Thursday, November 16th in Pensacola, Fla., while the second and third seeds in the region will play a national quarterfinal match next weekend at the site of the second seed.