PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Junior
Athena Comeau (Rutland, Mass.) notched a pair of second half goals and Plymouth State University rallied from a 2-1 deficit with five unanswered tallies to surge past Rivier University, 6-2, in a non-conference field hockey game at Panther Field on Wednesday evening.
Rivier took a 2-1 lead with a goal in the final seconds of the first quarter, but Plymouth State would pull even on a tally by senior
Alessia Salzillo (Saugus, Mass.) to send the game into halftime deadlocked at 2-2.
Comeau broke the tie early in the third quarter and junior
Taylor Healey (Campton, N.H.) scored for the fifth straight game as part of a three-goal third quarter, before Comeau capped the scoring with her second of the day with just over a minute remaining in the fourth.
Plymouth State wins its third straight to jump to 3-2, while Rivier drops to 1-3.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 6, Rivier 2
- Plymouth State (3-2)
- Rivier (1-3)
How it Happened:
- Rivier got out to a fast start, taking an early lead less than a minute into play, but sophomore Amy Cohen (Concord, N.H.) found the back of the cage just 27 seconds later.
- The Raiders regained the lead in the closing seconds of the first.
- Salzillo made a move around a defender and whipped a shot through traffic and past the Rivier goalkeeper with just over three minutes before halftime to tie the game.
- Comeau gave PSU the lead just 1:12 into the third quarter when she stuffed a loose ball in at the far post with a scrum in front of the Raiders' goal, and Healey stole a pass and dribbled the length of the field before slipping a shot past the diving goalkeeper just 16 seconds later for a 4-2 advantage.
- Freshman Jen Newick (Lee, N.H.) scored her first career goal when she collected a rebound at the far post and snuck a shot through the goalie to make it 5-2 late in the third quarter.
- Comeau picked up her second of the day with just over a minute remaining when the grabbed a loose ball in front and tucked it in the nearside post to account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- Healey extends her remarkable start to the season, scoring for the fifth straight game to open the year. Her six goals are three times as many as the next closest player, while she easily leads the team with 13 points.
- Comeau picked up her first two goals of the year with the second multi-goal game of her career.
- Newick's tally was her first collegiate goal.
- PSU held a 33-18 advantage in shots, including 13-5 on goal.
- Junior Piper Sherbert (Freeport, Maine) made three saves without allowing a goal over the final 30 minutes to pick up the win.
- The matchup was the first between the two teams.
Up Next:
- PSU visits Framingham State on Saturday (Sept. 17) in a key Little East Conference (LEC) matchup.
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