GORHAM, Maine – Powered by a strong opening half effort, the University of Southern Maine women's lacrosse team posted a 16-5 victory over UMass Dartmouth in the First Round of the Little East Conference Tournament. The third-seeded Huskies improve to 10-8 on the season, while the sixth-seeded Corsairs conclude their strong 2023 campaign with an 8-8 mark.
Southern Maine will now advance to the LEC Semifinals, squaring off at second-seeded Plymouth State on Thursday in a 5pm contest.
Southern Maine got the game's scoring underway early in the first, but a beautiful feed at the top of the arc from junior midfielder
Widline Thomas, caught classmate
Melanny Sanchez Alvarez in the middle as she turned and fired to tie the game.
The Corsairs made it a 2-1 advantage minutes later as junior attack
Natalia Agrelo scored on the free position, but the Huskies rebounded at the 11:40 mark as Rachel Shanks converted a feed from Kiaya Gatchell to make it a 2-2 game.
A goal by USM's Paige Rinaldi set the stage for a 9-0 run into the second quarter as the homestanding Huskies took an 11-2 advantage with 8:02 remaining in the second. A score by junior midfielder
Melanny Sanchez Alvarez, off an outstanding feed from
Erin Donovan helped end the run, but USM took an 11-3 lead into halftime.
Out of the break, the Huskies saw goals from Cierra Hill, Shanks and Julia McKenna move it to a 14-3 score to activate the running clock heading into the final stanza. Rookie midfielder
Maddie Wright got on the board with her 88th of the season less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
Despite the momentum, the Corsairs were unable to hold off the home team's offense as Emily Cloutier posted the Huskies' 15th goal of the game with 9:45 to play. UMD answered at 7:59 as Agrelo tacked on her second of the game off a nice dish from Sanchez Alvarez, but the visitors were unable to get any closer as the Huskies sealed the First Round victory.
For USM, Hill paced the way with four goals and two assists, adding three ground balls, two caused turnovers and two draw controls. Maddie Kinney had three goals with three assists, while Shanks posted three goals with a helper. McKenna added three goals with a game-high 11 draw controls, while Gatchell recorded three assists. In goal, Cece Racine earned the win with five saves.
The Corsairs saw Sanchez Alvarez with two goals and an assist, adding a caused turnover and three draws, while Agrelo added two tallies. Wright scored a goal with a team-best five draws, while Donovan and Thomas each had a helper. In goal, senior
Payton Conceicao made 13 stops on the day.
