The USM women’s lacrosse team faced the likes of Plymouth State University in a Little East Conference match-up at Paula D. Hodgdon Field in Gorham on Tuesday afternoon. The Huskies put up a good effort but lost to the Panthers 18-12 in a game that featured plenty of offense.
Sophomore Brianna Davis and senior Kerry D’Ambroise combined to score 13 of Plymouth State’s 18 goals to help the Panthers improve their record to 5-4 on the season and 2-1 in LEC play. Davis led PSU with a game-high seven goals, with four of those coming in the first half, while D’Ambroise netted six of her own, scoring five of those six tallies in the second half.
The Panthers wasted no time as they dominated in the first half en route to a 10-2 lead at halftime. D’Ambroise got the scoring started first for PSU less than a minute into the contest, but was followed by USM freshman Haley Jordan (Falmouth) who answered back with a goal of her own a little over a minute later for her 16th goal of the season.
Plymouth then went on an 8-0 run over the next 21 minutes which was highlighted by Davis’s four first half goals. Sophomore Britney Chiles scored the Panthers final goal of the first half off an assist from senior Kalie Judd. USM Junior Jess Martineau (Yarmouth) scored with 1:14 left to cut the Plymouth lead to eight before the horn sounded for halftime.
USM and Plymouth came out trading goals back in forth in the second half, with the Panther attack being fueled by D’Ambroise’s five goals. USM then went on a 5-1 run spanning from 11:57 to 3:55 left in the game to pull within five, making the score 17-12 in Plymouth’s favor. The Huskies run was highlighted by two goals from freshman Shelby Turcotte (Lewiston), and one goal apiece by juniors Mary Vaughan (Brunswick) and Kristy Kendrick (Waterboro), and Jordan.
The Huskies however wouldn’t get any closer as D’Ambroise scored her sixth and final goal of the game to make the score 18-12 and solidify the win for her team.
Chiles and Judd scored two goals apiece for Plymouth State, while Judd also contributed with a game-high three assists. Also scoring for the Panthers was sophomore Jenn Foley.
USM was led by Turcotte and classmate Lauren Santo (Salem, N.H.) who scored three goals apiece. Jordan finished the game with two goals and an assist and Kendrick also had two goals in the contest.
Plymouth State senior goalie Morgan Lemmon stopped 11 USM shots on the day before giving way to sophomore Allie Baribault who made one save. USM rookie goalie Samantha Kiesel (Lakeville, Mass.) recorded nine saves in 46:56 minutes of play before giving up the goal to junior Rachel Lolley (Gorham) who played the final 13 minutes of the game.
USM will be back in action this week as they will travel to Rhode Island College on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. start, and will battle at Keene State on Saturday at 1 p.m.