Panthers come up short in upset attempt 

            BOSTON – Seniors Kara Peters (Agawam, Mass.) and Natasha Stibor (San Francisco, Calif.) each scored goals Tuesday evening to help lead #3-seeded University of Massachusetts Boston past #6-seeded Plymouth State University, 2-0, in a Little East Conference Women's Soccer Tournament quarterfinal game at James Cotter Field.

            UMass Boston, 6-11-3 overall, advances to face second-seeded Western Connecticut State University on Thursday at 7 p.m. in a semifinal match. The Colonials, which had a bye on Tuesday, earned a 2-1 double-overtime victory against the Beacons in the regular season in Boston.

            Plymouth State wraps up its season with a 7-9-1 overall record, its best record since the 2010 team finished with a 7-11 mark.

            UMass Boston took a 1-0 lead on Peters' first goal of her senior season at 14:47 and then held on through a nervy finish, as freshman goalie Alyssa Fugiel (Easthampton, Mass.) was called upon to stop a penalty kick in the final 10 minutes.

            With 7:37 remaining and UMB clinging to a 1-0 lead, the referee whistled the Beacons for a foul inside the box, which sent Plymouth State's Emily Bell (Derry, N.H.) to the spot. The senior sent a low hard strike to Fugiel's left, but Fugiel dove and palmed the ball away to keep the score at 1-0.

            Stibor added the insurance goal with 1:35 left to play, to seal the Beacons' eighth trip to the Little East semifinals in eight years.

            Fugiel earned her conference-leading sixth shutout of the year by making seven saves, including four in the second stanza.

            Plymouth State junior Annaliese Schmidt (Newmarket, N.H.) had another tremendous outing, as the All-Conference netminder stopped 12 of 14 shots for her seventh double-digit save game of the season. In the first half alone, Schmidt made four strong saves to keep the game close.

(Courtesy of UMass Boston Sports Information)

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