Panthers victorious in Little East opener 

By Adam Sheetz 

            PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Plymouth State University field hockey team had a strong defensive showing Saturday afternoon against Western Connecticut State University and defeated the Colonials, 3-0, in their Little East Conference opener at Arold Field.

            PSU limited WestConn to just two shots on goal. The Panther defense, led sophomores Amanda Butler, Aisha Rai Thompson, and Alyssa Audet and senior Brittany Treichel, held off a flurry of second-half penalty corners to hand the Colonials their first loss of the season.  Plymouth State improves to 3-0 while Western Conn. drops to 3-1.

            The outcome was the first shutout of the year for the Panthers and junior goalie Hilary Lemelin.

            Junior Olivia Colborn put the Panthers on the board four minutes into the contest, driving home a feed from sophomore Lauren Carroll. Freshman Nikki Garvey threaded her way through the defense to score an unassisted goal with 10 minutes to go in the half to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.

            The second half began with a surge of offensive chances for Western Connecticut. Senior Lauren Atkinson and Sophomore Michelle Davies each had a shot on goal, but the Colonials were unable to capitalize on seven second-half penalty corners.

            The Panthers closed out the scoring with six minutes to play when Colborn redirected a pass from sophomore Jackie Morin for her second goal of the game.

            Shots on goal for the game favored PSU, 13-2.  Lemelin finished with one save and freshman Alyssa Picariello and sophomore Courtney Hearn combined to make six saves.

            PSU is back in action this Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. at Arold Field, hosting New England College.  Western Connecticut heads to Ramapo College to face the Roadrunners Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. 

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