Box Score Green scores for Panthers in regular season
finale
PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Eastern Connecticut State
University clinched the Little East Conference women's soccer
regular season championship and an undefeated regular season
Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over Plymouth State
University on PSU's Senior Day at Panther Field.
The visiting Warriors, who are ranked No. 1 in New England and No.
10 nationally, finished with a 19-4 advantage in shots for the
game, but needed a pair of goals by sophomore Taylor Buchanan
(Ellington, Conn.) and freshman Nicole Leonard (Rutherford, N.J.)
three minutes apart early in the second half to hold off the
upset-minded Panthers. Eastern completes the regular season
at 15-0-3 overall and 6-0-1 in conference play to capture its first
LEC title since sharing the crown with Western Connecticut in
2008. PSU ends the regular season with a 7-10 overall record
and 2-5 in Little East matches, finishing in a three-way tie for
fifth place in the conference standings.
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| PSU Women's Soccer Senior Day at Panther Field. |
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Top-seeded Eastern Conn. will receive a first-round bye in next
week's LEC Tournament, and will host a semifinal game
Thursday in Willimantic, Conn. Plymouth State will be the
sixth seed in the tournament and will be on the road for
Tuesday's first-round game against an opponent to be
determined.
Eastern Connecticut maintained possession of the ball in the
Panther half of the field much of the first half but could not get
through the tough PSU defense. The Warriors nearly got on the
board at the 23-minute mark when freshman Tamar Merheb (Bethel,
Conn.) got off a shot in traffic but it bounced off the left goal
post and the game remained scoreless. It looked like the
teams would head to the locker room with a 0-0 deadlock, but
sophomores Chelsea Downer (Colchester, Conn.) and Daniela Marchitto
(Orange, Conn.) worked a nice give-and-go off a corner kick along
the right end line, and Downer finished the play with her second
goal of the season to the upper right corner with four minutes
remaining in the half.
Buchanan made an outstanding individual play for Eastern seven
minutes into the second half, weaving through several Panther
defenders and chipping a shot over the keeper's reach for her
team-leading 13th goal of the season. PSU answered
less than three minutes later, working a give-and-go on a corner
kick from the right side very similar to the Warriors' goal
in the first half. Junior Amy Green
(Atkinson, N.H./Timberlane) finished off the play for the Panthers
with her third of the season, assisted by junior Sam
Laliberte (Concord, N.H.) and freshman Laura
Davis (Pelham, N.Y.)
Eastern stopped any Panther momentum with its third goal of the
afternoon less than a minute later. Senior Lauren Hickey
(Southwick, Mass.) sent a ball into the box, and Leonard redirected
the ball into the net for her fourth of the season.
That ended up as all of the scoring. Laliberte got off two
good shots for PSU in the final 15 minutes but one went wide and
the other just over top of the crossbar.
Before the game, PSU recognized its two seniors who were playing in
their final home game – forward Rebecca
Wilson (Clinton, Conn.) and midfielder Rachel
Kindl (Granby, Conn.).
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