PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Junior
Maddie Hunt (Littleton, Mass.) matched a career-high with six goals to power fourth-seeded Plymouth State University past fifth-seeded University of Southern Maine, 16-6, in the first round of the Little East Conference (LEC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament at Panther Field on Tuesday night.
The score was deadlocked at 1-1 after the opening five minutes, but junior
Julia Donovan (Antrim, N.H.) converted a woman-up goal and senior
Megan Gaspa (Laconia, N.H.) added a tally 15 seconds later to give the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish.
PSU extended the margin to 6-1 late in the second, though the visitors used a late charge to pull within 7-3 at the half.
Plymouth State put the game out of reach with five straight goals in the third quarter before coasting to the win.
Plymouth State improves to 11-6 and advances to face top-seeded Western Connecticut State University in Thursday's (May 2) semifinal round. The two teams have met in the championship game each of the last three seasons.
The Huskies' season ends with a 7-8 mark.
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 16, Southern Maine 6
- Plymouth State (11-6)
- Southern Maine (7-8)
How it Happened:
- Hunt opened the scoring 1:49 into the game, but the Huskies converted a woman-up chance two minutes later to knot the score at 1-1.
- Donovan responded in kind with a woman-up goal with 5:33 left in the frame to give the Panthers the lead for good. Gaspa added her 20th of the season 15 seconds later to make it 3-1 at the end of the first quarter.
- Hunt buried her second of the evening in the opening minute of the second and sophomore Morgan Cunningham (Wrentham, Mass.) and senior Tarryn O'Brien (Weymouth, Mass.) scored late in the frame to extend the lead to 6-1.
- USM sandwiched a pair of scored around another O'Brien tally to pull within 7-3 at the half.
- Plymouth State put the game away with a fast start to the third quarter. Junior Jenna Stowell (Londonderry, N.H.) won the opening draw and raced down to score and Gaspa added another moments later. Hunt and Gaspa each converted feeds from O'Brien as PSU struck for four goals in less than 90 seconds.
- Donovan added another woman-up goal with just over four minutes left in the stanza to extend the lead to 12-3 before USM responded in kind in the final seconds.
- The Huskies pulled to within 12-5 early in the fourth before Hunt and senior Amelia Thomas (Hopkinton, N.H.) answered for PSU.
- Hunt capped her career day with back-to-back woman-up goals to make it 16-5, before the visitors tacked on a late goal to account for the final score.
By the Numbers:
- Hunt matched her career highs of six goals and six points from an Apr. 13 win over Rhode Island College. She added three ground balls.
- O'Brien finished with two goals and three assists, while Thomas added a goal, three assists, four ground balls and two caused turnovers.
- Gaspa (three goals) and Donovan (two goals, one assist) had three-point games.
- Gaspa also chipped in five ground balls and four caused turnovers, while Stowell hauled in 14 draw controls to go with three caused turnovers. Her 14 draw controls were one shy of her career best.
- PSU owned a 29-8 advantage in shots on goals.
- Both teams were 13-for-14 in clear attempts.
- PSU won 20-of-26 draw controls and converted 3-of-7 free position attempts.
- Plymouth State wins its sixth-straight against the Huskies and improves to 25-3 in the all-time series.
- The Panthers are back in the semifinals for the 11th straight year. They've advanced to the title game in nine of those seasons.
Up Next:
- Fourth-seeded Plymouth State heads to top-seeded WestConn for the semifinal round on Thursday (May 2) at 3:00 p.m.
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