Box Score GORHAM, Maine – Junior Peyton Dostie (Standish, Maine/Bonny Eagle) and sophomore Allison Ward (Rockland, Maine) each scored goals and freshman goalkeeper Amanda Kasbohm (York, Maine) gave a tremendous performance in her collegiate debut as the University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the Manhattanville College Valiants 2-1 in their season-opening game Friday afternoon at Hannaford Field in Gorham, Maine.
Both teams were playing in their season-opener as part of the 2013 USM Field Hockey Invitational. The Huskies are now 1-0 while the Valiants stand at 0-1.
Dostie broke through for the first goal of the game in the 30th minute. Using her speed, Dostie pushed the ball past several Manhattanville defenders and beat senior goalkeeper Amy Hilton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kents Hill (ME)) to the left. Southern Maine took the 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
Southern Maine took a 2-0 lead in the 42nd minute when Ward redirected a pass from freshman Samantha Crosman (South Berwick, Maine/Marshwood). Ward was at the top of the circle and sharply struck a centering pass from Crosman for the goal.
The Valiants trimmed the USM advantage to one with a goal in the 61st minute. After pressuring the USM defense for several minutes consecutively, senior Amanda DeChent (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) weaved her way through the Huskies' defense and dished out a perfect pass to freshman Mikayla Allen (Bow, N.H.). Allen tapped in the assist for her first collegiate goal.
With just under 10 minutes to play, both teams pressured each others defense, but the Huskies were able to hold on thank in part to the strong collegiate debut of Kasbohm. Kasbohm made nine saves on 16 shot. Hilton made nine saves for the Valiants. Manhattanville senior Julia Esposito (Greenwich, Conn.) had a defensive save.
Southern Maine faces Wheaton (Mass.) tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. The Valiants will face Johnson & Wales (R.I.) at 10:00 a.m. Wheaton defeated Johnson & Wales 5-1 in the opening game.
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