Husson junior forward Alexandra Laniewski (Scarborough) scored two first half goals to lead the Husson University Eagles to a 4-0 victory over the USM Huskies in the teams’ season-opening match Wednesday afternoon at a sweltering USM Soccer Field.
Laniewski converted a short pass from rookie midfielder Rebecca Jones (Newmarket, N.H.) into a 10-yard shot into the open side of the USM goal in the 14th minute. In the 22nd minute, Laniewski added a second goal, outracing the USM defense to a 50-50 ball and slipping a shot past junior goalkeeper Kat Rothe (Leeds).
Husson added two insurance goals in the second half to account for the final tally. Senior Michelle Manning (Hampden) ran onto a pass from sophomore Meghan O’Neil (Hartford, Vt.) and flicked a shot past sophomore keeper Katie Cobb (Lewiston), who came on for Rothe at halftime, four minutes into the second half. The Eagles received an own goal with less than five minutes remaining.
Junior goalkeeper Rozlyn Petersen (Newport) recorded the shutout for the Eagles making three saves. Rothe and Cobb combined to make three saves for the Huskies.
Southern Maine travels to Wenham, Mass., on Saturday (12:00 p.m.) to play Gordon College. Husson will play Emmanuel College on Saturday at 1 p.m. in a first round game of the Husson Classic Tournament.