SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – Junior Brittany Soar (Boxboro, Mass.) scored with 7:06 remaining in the third period to lift the visiting University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 2-1 victory over the Saint Michael's College Purple Knights in ECAC Women's East action Saturday afternoon at Cairns Arena.

            The win snapped an eight-game winless (0-7-1) stretch for the Huskies, and improves their record to 5-11-5 overall and 4-7-3 in league play.  The Purple Knights, winless in their last 16 (0-15-1) games slide to 1-18-1 overall and 1-15-0 in the league.

            The teams played through two scoreless periods to set up a 20-minute showdown.  The Huskies grabbed a 1-0 lead at 3:46 when junior Erin Banfield (Montpelier, Vt.) scored an unassisted goal by putting a backhand shot into the top of the net.  The goal was Banfield's sixth of the season.

            Saint Michael's tied the game at 8:37 tallying a power-play marker.  Sophomore Kristen Spulecki (Orchard Park, N.Y.) took a pass in the slot from classmate Fernanda Saavedra (Miami, Fla.) and beat USM sophomore goalie Liz Bergstrom (Chanhassen, Minn.) with a spinning shot.

            The deadlock lasted just over five minutes until Soar scored her third goal of the season from in close.  Banfield and sophomore Julia Pearl (Essex Jct., Vt.) picked up the assists.

            Bergstrom stopped 20 shots to earn her fourth win of the season.  Senior Erin Stevens (Watertown, Conn.) made 29 saves for the Purple Knights. 

            Southern Maine returns to action next weekend hosting Castleton State College on Friday (4:00 p.m.) and New England College on Saturday (1:00 p.m.).  Saint Michael's will host Franklin Pierce University for a two-game non-conference series next Friday and Saturday.

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