GORHAM, Maine – Sophomore
Piper Sherbert (Freeport, Maine) posted her highest save percentage of the season (minimum ten shots faced) and freshman
Maddie Hunt (Littleton, Mass.) scored three times as the Plymouth State University women's lacrosse team picked up an important Little East Conference (LEC) win, topping the University of Southern Maine, 9-5, at Hannaford Field on Tuesday afternoon.
The Panthers, on a quest to reclaim the LEC title, remain unbeaten in conference play, setting up a Saturday showdown with Western Connecticut State University. The newly renamed Wolves dethroned PSU in last year's LEC Tournament championship game.
Plymouth State grabbed a narrow 2-1 lead after the first quarter and extended the advantage to 6-3 with two minutes before halftime. PSU clamped down on the Huskies, holding them scoreless for a 27:15 stretch while extending the lead to 9-3. USM grabbed a pair of woman-up goals in the last five minutes to account for the final score.
The game was a rematch of last year's LEC Tournament semifinals in which the Panthers pulled out an 8-7 overtime win to advance to a seventh straight title game.
Plymouth State (10-3, 4-0 LEC) will host WestConn in a huge game on Saturday. Southern Maine falls to 9-4 and 3-1 in conference play.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 9, Southern Maine 5
- Plymouth State (10-3, 4-0 LEC)
- Southern Maine (9-4, 3-1 LEC)
Top Performers:
How it Happened:
- Junior Emily Santom (Litchfield, N.H.) gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead when she converted a free position attempt while USM had a player serving a green card at the 7:45 mark of the first quarter.
- Classmate Julia Mahoney (Stratford, Conn.) doubled the lead just three minutes later, but Southern Maine pulled to within 2-1 when the Huskies scored with 1:25 left in the frame.
- Plymouth State slowly extended the advantage in the second. Junior Sarah Schartner (Plymouth, N.H.) and senior Devon Mello (Laconia, N.H.) went back-to-back to make it 4-1 with 8:48 left in the quarter.
- The hosts momentarily slowed the momentum with a free position goal, but junior Olivia Croke (Norwell, Mass.) answered right back just 30 seconds later and Hunt's first of the afternoon pushed the lead to 6-2 with 4:03 left before halftime.
- USM struck with 1:58 to go, but Hunt responded and freshman Julia Donovan (Antrim, N.H.) poured in her 26th of the year just before the clock expired for an 8-3 lead.
- Both teams played lockdown defense in the third quarter. Plymouth State forced the hosts into six turnovers while Sherbert made a pair of saves, but the Huskies' goaltender stopped all eight shots she faced to maintain the five-goal deficit.
- Mahoney pushed the lead to 9-3 with her second score of the game 5:20 into the fourth quarter.
- The hosts took advantage of a pair of Plymouth State yellow cards to tack on two goals in the last five minutes and account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- Hunt finished with three goals, her fourth hat trick of the year, and added two ground balls and a caused turnover.
- Croke also had a three-point game (one goal, two assists) and chipped in a pair of ground balls, while Mahoney and Mello each had a goal and an assist.
- Junior Amelia Thomas (Hopkinton, N.H.) led all players with five ground balls and added two caused turnovers.
- Junior Autumn Nelson (Weare, N.H.) and sophomore Megan Gaspa (Laconia, N.H.) combined for eight of the Panthers' ten draw controls. Both also contributed two ground balls as well.
- Sherbert picked up the win after making six saves for a .545 save percentage, her highest of the season when facing double-digit shots.
- Plymouth State held the Huskies scoreless for a 27:15 stretch from late in the second quarter until the five-minute mark of the fourth.
- PSU held a 28-17 advantage in shots and converted 18-of-21 clear attempts.
- The Panthers grabbed 25 ground balls to USM's 11.
Up Next:
- Plymouth State's tough stretch continues Saturday (Apr. 23) when the Panthers host defending LEC champion WestConn at 11:00 a.m.
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