PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Sophomore
Maddie Hunt (Acton, Mass.) secured a hat trick against defending national champion and #1-ranked Middlebury College in a 22-7 loss in non-conference women's lacrosse action at Panther Field on Tuesday evening.
Hunt put the home team on the board in the first quarter when she launched a close-range shot to the back of the cage. She followed up with back-to-back scores to being the second, sniping her second of the day on another point-blanks shot before sneaking through the defense for her third of the afternoon.
Plymouth State slips to 6-5, while Middlebury improves to 12-0.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 7, #1 Middlebury 22
- Plymouth State (6-5)
- #1 Middlebury (12-0)
How it Happened:
- Middlebury jumped out to a 7-0 lead to begin the first quarter, but Hunt broke the momentum with a score off a feed from senior Olivia Croke (Norwell, Mass.) and sophomore Jenna Stowell (Londonderry, N.H.) added another about a minute later to cut the deficit to 7-2.
- Hunt completed her hat trick in the second with assists from seniors Amelia Thomas (Hopkinton, N.H.) and Emily Santom (Litchfield, N.H.), but the Middlebury offense continued its rampage to lead 15-4 at the half.
- Plymouth State kept pace with the defending champs in the third quarter with Thomas scoring a woman-up goal and sophomore Julia Donovan (Antrim, N.H.) adding two more to keep the margin to 18-7.
- The visitors tacked on four fourth-quarter tallies to account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- Junior Piper Sherbert (Freeport, Maine) finished with 13 saves, the third highest total of her career.
- Hunt recorded her fourth game of the year with three or more goals.
- Middlebury held a 41-17 advantage in shots.
- Stowell led the Panthers with six draw controls, while junior Megan Gaspa (Laconia, N.H.) added five.
- Donovan has two-plus goals in each of the last four contests.
- Thomas and junior Emily Le Do (Portsmouth, R.I.) recorded team highs of three ground balls apiece.
- PSU was 10-for-12 on clears, while limiting Middlebury to 16-of-21.
- Plymouth State's seven goals matched the most the team has ever scored against Middlebury, last done during the 1995 season.
Up Next:
- PSU gets back to conference play on Saturday (Apr. 15) when the Panthers visit Rhode Island College for a 1:00 p.m. game.
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