GORHAM, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (3-1) rallied from a three-goal deficit with five unanswered markers in the closing 20 minutes to defeat University of Southern Maine (1-2), 10-8, in a hard-fought non-conference women's lacrosse game on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Huskies started the contest with three-consecutive goals in the first five minutes and held a 4-1 cushion after freshman Amanda Crowley (South Yarmouth, Mass.) scored with 19:52 remaining. The Monks proceeded to tie the game with goals from Molly Barr (Gorham, Maine), Logan Champlin (Alfred, Maine), and Maddy Beaulieu (West Gardiner, Maine) in a matter of six minutes and the in-state rivals faced a 5-5 stalemate heading into halftime.
The see-saw battle continued in the second stanza, as USM opened the latter period with three-consecutive scores to stake an 8-5 advantage with 20:24 on the clock. Barr kicked off the offensive outburst at the 19:34 mark with her second of four goals on the day and Beaulieu and Champlin followed up with tallies in the subsequent five minutes to knot the game 8-8 with 14:48 to play.
With 12:31 remaining Champlin scored what proved to be the game-winning goal on a free-position shot and two minutes later Barr added an insurance off a Beaulieu feed to account for the 10-8 final.
TEAM STATS:
Southern Maine held the advantage in shots (35-23), shots on goal (24-21), ground balls (20-17), and draw controls (12-8) on the afternoon. The Monks scored on three of eight free-position attempts while the Huskies hit pay-dirt twice on 14 free-position tries.
THE KEEPERS:
Saint Joseph's sophomore Madelyn Nelson (Casco, Maine) was excellent in the victory with 16 saves and three ground balls. USM junior netminder Mariah Vaillancourt (Lewiston, Maine) turned away 11 shots in the losing effort.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Barr scored a career-high four goals on seven shots
- Beaulieu netted three goals with two assists, two ground balls, two draw controls, and a caused turnover
- Champlin added three goals and an assist with three ground balls and two draw controls
LEADERS – SOUTHERN MAINE:
- Crowley scored two goals with two ground balls
- Freshman Jena Leckie (South Portland, Maine) added a pair of goals with seven draw controls
- Sophomore Evelyn Hinkley (West Gardiner, Maine) contributed a goal with two assists, two ground balls, and a pair of draw controls
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win Saint Joseph's improves to 5-7 all-time versus University of Southern Maine and has now defeated the Huskies in five-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2015 campaign.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host UMaine-Farmington tomorrow at 11:00 AM.
