WATERVILLE, Maine -- Senior forward Nikki Pickering (Keene, N.H.) snapped a scoreless deadlock 10 minutes into the second half to help the Colby College women's soccer team to a 2-0 win over University of Southern Maine in non-conference play Wednesday afternoon.

            The win snapped a three-game winless skid (0-2-1) for the Mules, and improved their overall record to 5-4-1.  The Huskies fell to 2-11-0 overall.

            Pickering has four goals and one assist on the season to lead the Mules (5-4-1) in scoring. Junior midfielder Kate Laxson (Wayzata, Minn.) had her third assist of the season on the Pickering goal that proved to be the game-winning marker.

            The Huskies (2-11) did not give up and kept it a one-goal game until sophomore forward Annie Papadellis (Hopkinton, Mass.) scored her first collegiate goal, set up by Pickering, with 1:27 to play.

            Colby rookie goalkeeper Emily Brook (Duxbury, Mass.) stopped three shots for her fifth shutout of the season, while senior Kat Rothe (Leeds, Maine/Leavitt Area) made five stops for USM.  Colby had a 13-7 advantage in shots and had all five corner kicks in the game.

            Southern Maine returns to action on Saturday (2:30 pm.) hosting the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth for a critical Little East Conference game.  Colby hosts Amherst College and Hamilton College this weekend.

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