When Sophomore forward Heidi DeHaan (Lewiston) snuck a 22-foot blast into the upper right hand corner of the net just eight minutes into last Wednesday’s contest at the University New England, she silenced an already quiet crowd.
As the game continued, however, the Huskies found that it would be the only time they would have any real momentum on their side, thanks to a relentless offensive attack put on by the Noreasters, which led UNE to a 2-1 victory over the Huskies in non-conference action.
“Defensively we’re still a little scrambled, we need to sort through that a little bit,” said head coach Lisa Petruccelli. “They (Huskies) really play a simple game once they get it settled down.”
With UNE having such offensive momentum, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the home team would strike gold.
And after 35 minutes of play, they did.
Noreaster forward Katie Caron scrambled for the ball, delivered a strike to Sarah Richardson, who then drilled a shot past Husky goalie Alison Bradley (Aukland, NZ) to tie the game at one.
By the half, however, it was clear UNE was in control on the offensive end, out-shooting the Huskies 16-2.
The Huskies responded to the Noreaster’s style of play in the second half, though.
“Our second half was much better,” said senior forward Caitlin Brown. “We learned how fast they were and we adapted to that.”
Although the Huskies fought off the Noreasters much more efficiently later in the game, Richardson’s tenacity was not to be denied.
Fourteen minutes into the half, Richardson took a pass from first-year forward Maggie Mahoney and scored her second goal of the night.
“We definitely panicked a little a bit when UNE scored their second goal,” Petrucelli said.
Despite limited success on the offensive end, USM managed to mitigate UNE’s attack with a strong defensive effort — that effort was led in large part by Bradley who made 17 stops on the night, including a number of remarkable diving saves.
“She played great today. She made some significant saves that made a big difference,” Petruccelli said. “It could have been a different outcome even more so if she hadn’t made some of those saves.”
Bradley credited her spectacular night to basic human nature.
“I’m always aware of the angles I need to close down, but at the end of the day its just instinct,” she said.
After Richardson’s second goal, the Huskies pushed hard to tie up the score and, but UNE’s offense proved to be too dominant.
The Huskies finished with 5 shots on goal to the Noreasters’ 19.