PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Sophomore Sarah
Smith (Lexington, Mass.) scored three goals Tuesday
afternoon, including two in the final four minutes of the game, to
lead Plymouth State University to a 4-3 come-from-behind victory
over New England College in non-conference field hockey action at
Arold Field.
Smith scored the first goal of the game to give the Panthers a 1-0
lead just four minutes into the contest, with an assist from senior
Katie Barany (Middlesex, Vt.). Sophomore
Sarah Feugill (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton) evened the score for NEC a
little over three minutes later, with classmate Ashley Simula
(Bridgewater, N.H.) assisting. Senior Amanda Lester
(Columbia, Conn.) tallied the first of her two goals with 10
minutes remaining in the first half, and the Pilgrims maintained
the one-goal lead at the break.
The Panthers jumped out strong to start the second half, with
freshman Kristina Conroy (Wakefield, Mass.)
knotting the score at 2-2 in the first minute. But four minutes
later, Lester scored her second of the game, with Feugill
assisting, to give the Pilgrims the lead back.
With time winding down, Smith took a pass from Barany and rifled a
shot off the inside of the left goal post and in to tie the game at
3-3 with just 3:39 on the clock. Then 22 seconds later, Smith
smacked a free ball out of mid-air, past the goalie and into the
cage for what turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Sophomore Mary Roux (Auburn, Mass.) had a busy day in the Pilgrims
goal and finished with 16 saves. Senior Leah
Curtin (Londonderry, N.H.) finished with four saves in
relief of starter Katie Randall (Portsmouth,
N.H.), who made one stop.
PSU, which won for the fifth time in its last six outings, improved
to 6-5 overall, while NEC dropped to 8-6. The Panthers are
home again on Saturday with a Little East Conference game against
Fitchburg State (12:00 p.m.) NEC hosts the University of New
England in a Commonwealth Coast Conference match-up on Saturday
(1:00 p.m.)
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