The USM Huskies dominated the Gordon College Fighting Scots with a lopsided score of 6-0 in what was non-conference field hockey action at Paula D. Hodgdon field in Gorham this past Thursday.
The Huskies began their intense offensive attack early on; penetrating deep into the Gordon zone until senior forward Caitlin Albert (Scarborough, ME) managed to deflect a shot from sophomore forward Whitney McDaniel (Livermore, ME) into the goal just four and a half minutes into the game to make the score 1-0.
Just minutes later, the Huskies were again on the attack and applying relentless pressure on the Gordon defense. After a shot blasted at the net was saved by Gordon keeper Arielle Cimino (Bedford, Mass), McDaniel charged for the rebound and put in her first goal of the season.
The Huskies didn’t slow down. They would rush the net for the next five minutes and record their last goal of the first half after a penalty corner from sophomore midfielder Heidi Swett (Turner, ME) with an assist from Bethany Bougie (Sanford, ME). Gordon finally got the ball out of their own zone in the last minute of play but still could not find any sense of rhythm in the 2nd half.
“We played great,” senior Captain Allison Hill said, (Cape Elizabeth, ME) who recorded her first shut out of the season. “We just came off of turf this past weekend and our passing clicked early during warm ups,” Hill stated.
Their shooting did as well. Shortly into the 2nd half, USM continued to annihilate Gordon offensively when Senior forward India Lowe (Gloucester, Mass) found the back of the net at the 21 minute mark, giving the Huskies an ever-expanding 4-0 lead.
With fifteen minutes left in the half, the Fighting Scots finally got the ball rolling in the USM zone. After a surprising break away by Gordon, goal keeper Allison Hill destroyed any hopes of a Scots goal when she charged five steps out of the net to make a fantastic diving save, keeping their first shutout of the season alive.
The Huskies would record two more goals, one by Kailey Bubier, (Auburn, ME) who is now leading the team in goals with four, and another by freshman forward Rachel Trafton (Corinth, ME) in the last four minutes of play.
“We’re really working well together,” says Hill brightly. “There’s no difference between subs and starters right now; we’re cohesive.”
The Huskies, who improve to a 2-2 record after the win, will be hosting the University of Maine in Farmington on Wednesday the 16th, in Gorham.