The USM Huskies stopped a 3 game slide with a 3-0 shutout of Western Connecticut State University on Saturday. Southern Maine scored 1 goal in the first half, and added another two in the second to breeze past the Colonials.
The Huskies spent the first 10 minutes of action defending their own end as Western Connecticut dominated the possession game, while the Huskies looked flat. “Sometimes it takes a little while to wake up and realize oh, we’re playing a game here”, remarked Head Coach Bonnie Brown-Denico. The lackluster performance didn’t last long, as Junior India Lowe (Gloucester, MA) snuck the ball into the goal on a penalty corner by the Huskies in the 23rd minute. The goal came off assists from Junior Jen Gagnon (Manchester, NH) and Freshman Bethany Bougie (Sanford).
USM’s goalkeeper, Junior Allison Hill (Cape Elizabeth) made some close saves to keep the shutout alive going into the second half. USM seemed more in sync as the game progressed. “We talk a lot about communication this year, and that’s something we can always improve on”, said Senior Anna Pease. The Huskies commanded the field for the remainder of the game, executing another penalty corner into a goal by Senior Alyssa Kraus (Standish) in the 57th minute. The goal came off an assist from Senior Catilin Albert (Gorham). Late in the half, Junior Rolinda Mitchell (Dover-Foxcroft) tacked on an insurance goal for USM, following an assist from Freshman Whitney MacDaniel (Livermore).
The win gave some confidence back to the Huskies, who have 11 new players on the team this year. “We’re progressing with each game”, said Pease. “We want to get to where we were last year, and come back with a championship this year.”