Box Score WESTFIELD, Mass. – Southern Maine junior Peyton Dostie (Standish, Maine/Bonny Eagle) scored four goals and had an assist – all in the second half – to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 5-2 come-from-behind victory over the Westfield State University Owls in a Little East Conference field hockey game Saturday afternoon at Alumni Field.
With the win, Southern Maine improves its LEC record to 2-3 winning its last two conference games and stands at 5-8 overall. Westfield State falls to 1-4 in the LEC and 4-5 overall.
After giving up a pair of first half goals to Westfield sophomore Emily Williams (Deerfield, Mass./Frontier Regional) in the seventh minute and junior Kelly Kenney (Suffield, Conn.) in the 22nd minute, the Huskies trailed the Owls 2-0 at the break. The Owls held their lead through the first five minutes of the second half before Dostie scored the first of her four goals in the 41st minute with an unassisted tally.
The Owls remained in front of the Huskies until the 56th minute when freshman Michaela Demers (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Memorial) connected with Dostie for her second goal of the game to knot the score up at two goals each. Just five minutes later, USM completed the rally on the heels of Dostie's explosive offensive performance when she lifted USM to a 3-2 lead converting a feed from senior Rebecca Pratt (Cornville, Maine/Skowhegan) in the 66th minute.
After a timeout from Westfield, the Huskies added two more goals in short order in the 65th and 68th minute for the 5-2 final. Dostie and Pratt connected again for Dostie's fourth goal of the game and her team-leading 13th of the season in the 65th minute, before Dostie returned the favor assisting on Pratt's goal in the 68th minute.
USM outshot the Owls 15-8 for the game, including a decisive 11-3 margin in the second half. Both teams were even with six penalty corners a side. USM senior goalkeeper Kayla Kennedy (Windham, Maine) made four saves in the win. Owl freshman Megan Fountaine (Scituate, Mass.) made seven saves in the loss.
Southern Maine travels to Plymouth State on Wednesday (3:00 p.m.). Westfield State travels to Fitchburg State on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.). Both games are Little East Conference match-ups.
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