PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Junior Lauren Lavery (Nashua, N.H./South) scored three first-half goals Saturday afternoon and Plymouth State University went on to defeat Rhode Island College, 4-1, in a Little East Conference women's soccer match at Panther Field.

            Lavery (right) also collected an assist on the Panthers' fourth goal, which was scored by classmate Stacy DiSabato (Manchester, N.H./Central). PSU won its second straight game to even its overall record at 5-5-3 and improve to 1-3-1 in LEC play, while RIC dropped its fourth in a row and fell to 1-13-1 and 0-4-1.

            Lavery put the Panthers on the board 12 minutes into the contest when she took a pass from freshman Gill Carroll (Guilford, Conn.), turned and curled a shot inside the left post. Nine minutes later she collected a throw-in from junior Gianna Minervini (Point Pleasant, N.J.) and curled another one inside the left post.  She finished off the hat trick five minutes later with an unassisted strike from near the top of the RIC box.

            DiSabato, who had a hat trick of her own in PSU's win over Castleton on Wednesday, extended the Panther lead to 4-0 eight minutes into the second half.  DiSabato and Lavery share the team lead with six goals each on the season.

            Sophomore Chelsea Creamer (Coventry, R.I.) broke up the shutout for the Anchorwomen with 20 minutes to go in the second half, with an assist from senior Kayla Fleming (Pawtucket, R.I.)

            PSU finished with a 22-7 advantage in shots.  Freshman Stephanie Regina (Howell, N.J.) made three saves in the Panther goal, while sophomore Maddie Pirri (Bristol, R.I.) recorded six saves in the Anchorwoman goal.

            Plymouth State plays its final regular season home game Tuesday at Panther Field against Bridgewater State (4:30 p.m.)  RIC returns home to host Westfield State Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.

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