FARMINGTON, Maine – The Plymouth State University women's soccer team defeated the University of Maine Farmington Beavers, 3-0, in non-conference action at Bob Leib Field on Tuesday afternoon.
It was perfect timing for the Panthers to get their first win of the season as they head into Little East Conference (LEC) play this weekend. Sophomore
Tindra Bergstrand (Taby, Sweden) was the star of the match, recording her first collegiate points – including a header goal across the face of goal from a corner kick. Bergstrand also recorded the assist on Plymouth State's first goal, scored by freshman
Nevaeh Petruzzi (Newmarket, N.H.) in the 20th minute.
Senior
Tess LeDuc (Marlborough, Mass.) also tallied her first collegiate goal on a similar header from sophomore
Olivia Howard (Berwick, Maine), who contributed two corner kick assists on the afternoon.
Freshman goalkeeper
Sydney Rowe (Cañon City, Colo.) recorded four saves in her second shutout in as many starts for the Panthers.
Plymouth State wins its first game under new head coach
Peter Simonini to improve to 1-2-2 on the season, as UMaine Farmington falls to 1-3-1.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 3, UMaine Farmington 0
- Plymouth State (1-2-2)
- UMaine Farmington (1-3-1)
How it Happened:
- The Beavers had the first two chances of the game in the first 15 minutes but did not challenge Rowe as the opportunities went wide.
- At the 20-minute mark, Bergstrand found herself up the right side and showed great patience to feed the ball across the box to a wide open Petruzzi to give PSU the lead 1-0.
- Four minutes later, the Panthers doubled their lead when LeDuc rose over the defender to head the ball down into a goal off a Howard corner kick to go up 2-0.
- UMF had a chance late in the first half when a forward got in on Rowe, but a strong diving save with the right hand kept the Beavers scoreless as it remained 2-0 into halftime.
- Bergstrand delivered her first career goal in the 64th minute off another Howard corner kick that found her teammate's head to put Plymouth State up 3-0.
- The Panthers could have extended the advantage, but the crossbar stopped the ball from going in twice in the final 15 minutes of play.
- PSU continued to dominate play for the remainder of the match, holding its opponents to one total shot in the second half.
By the Numbers:
- Plymouth State outshot UMF 15-8 in the contest.
- PSU had eight corner kicks to three for the Beavers.
- Both teams' goalkeepers recorded four saves.
- Shots on goal were in PSU's favor, 7-4.
- The last Plymouth State freshman goalkeeper to record shutouts in her first two collegiate starts was Cat Robbins, now an assistant for the Panthers, during the 2018 season.
- Plymouth State remains unbeaten against UMF, holding a 6-0-0 record dating back to 2017.
Up Next:
- The Panthers head to UMass Boston to open LEC play against the Beacons on Saturday (Sept. 16). Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. on James Cotter Field.
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