NEW LONDON, N.H. – The Plymouth State University women's soccer team was defeated by the Colby-Sawyer College Chargers, 2-1, at Kelsey Soccer Field in a Saturday matinee.
Two goals in the span of three minutes in the first half proved to be enough as the Chargers held off a PSU comeback attempt in the second half. Graduate student
Kaliana Palhof (Loudon, N.H.) scored the lone Panther goal on a penalty kick to put the comeback into motion. Plymouth State hit the post in the final minutes and came up just short in the end.
Freshman goalkeeper
Sydney Rowe (Cañon City, Colo.) recorded four saves in the losing effort.
Plymouth State falls to 0-1-1, as Colby-Sawyer improves to 1-0-1.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 1, Colby-Sawyer College 2
- Plymouth State (0-1-1)
- Colby-Sawyer College (1-0-1)
How it Happened:
- Colby-Sawyer showed the first signs of danger in the 10th minute when a ball played in behind the PSU back line found the Charger striker in a 1-on-1 with the keeper, but the ball was just tipped over the bar.
- By the 30-minute mark, Colby-Sawyer looked to control more of the midfield play, but the teams remained tied 0-0.
- A minute later, the Chargers took a 1-0 lead when another ball played in behind the Plymouth State back line on the ride side led to a drive in on the goalkeeper. The Chargers' shot roofed the goal to take the lead.
- CSC doubled its lead two minutes later when a throw in found itself on a Charger foot and a ball played into the top of the box led the Charger midfielder to drive the ball into the top corner.
- The Panthers nearly got a goal back as a good turn by graduate student McKayla Palhof (Loudon, N.H.) on the top of the 18 led to a left-footed drive that went just over the bar.
- The score remained 2-0 going into halftime.
- The Chargers almost went up 3-0 in the 61st minute but Rowe came up with a strong diving save.
- Plymouth State had its first scoring chance of the second half on a good counterattack that led to a strong shot by sophomore Molly Bellmore (Hebron, Conn.) that forced a Charger save.
- In the 83rd minute, a penalty was awarded to the Panthers and Kaliana Palhof calmly stepped up and buried the kick from the spot into the top left corner to cut the deficit in half.
- PSU started to apply some later pressure to attempt a full comeback but was held off as the game ended 2-1.
By the Numbers:
- Colby-Sawyer outshot PSU 16-9 in the contest.
- PSU had four corner kicks to six for Colby-Sawyer.
- Plymouth State edged CSC 4-3 on saves.
- Shots on goal were in the Chargers' favor, 6-4.
- Palhof's goal was the first converted penalty for the Panthers since the 2021 season.
- The Panthers are now 17-8-1 all-time against Colby-Sawyer dating back to 1987.
Up Next:
- Plymouth State remains on the road as the team heads to Salem State University on Wednesday (Sept. 6). The game is scheduled to kick off at 6:00 p.m. at Kelsey Field.
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