Box Score GORHAM, Maine – Junior Jennifer Poulin (Winslow, Maine) came through in the clutch converting her penalty shootout attempt as the University of Southern Maine Huskies came out on top during a the sudden-victory round of penalty strokes to defeat the Bates College Bobcats 4-3 in a non-conference field hockey game Thursday afternoon at Hannaford Field.
Securing its first win over Bates since a 2-1 victory over the Bobcats during the 2003 season, Southern Maine improves to 7-11 overall. Bates falls to 6-7 on the season dropping its third straight game.
With the score even at 1-1 after the initial round of strokes, both teams went into the sudden victory round. Both the Huskies and Bobcats misfired on their first attempts in the second round before Poulin was able to beat Bates senior Katie Knox (Bronxville, N.Y.) to her right side for the goal. Facing elimination, Bates' freshman Adah Lindquist (Wayne, Pa./Conestoga) took her attempt, but Husky junior goalkeeper Amanda Kasbohm (York, Maine) closed down the space forcing Lindquist wide left securing the victory. Both Poulin and Lindquist were the lone goal-scorers in the first round of the shootout.
Southern Maine jumped out to a quick lead in regulation scoring just 2:30 in to the game as freshman Dorina Sirois (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) notched her first intercollegiate goal following a penalty corner. Sirois inserted the ball and received the pass back from senior Jessica Boghosian (Belgrade, Maine/Messalonskee) for a 1-0 lead. The Huskies' doubled their advantage late in the half, again scoring during a penalty corner, as Poulin knocked in a goal off of an assist from junior Kyrstyn Keating (Freedom, Maine/Mount View).
Trailing 2-0, Bates roared back to tied the game early in the second half. Senior Shannon Beaton (West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket) collected a rebounded shot in the 39th minute for her eight goal of the season to make it 2-1 in favor of USM. Bates scored again just 40 second later as Lindquist hustled her way to collected a loose ball to tie the game.
The game remained locked at 2-2 over the next 25 minutes despite Bates holding a large advantage in shots (30-9). The Bobcats were able to grab the lead, however, in the 66th minute as freshman Mackenzie Winslow (Winslow, Maine) scored her first goal of her career to make it 3-2. With less than four minutes remaining in regulation, Bates seemed on its way to a come-from-behind victory before Southern Maine scored on a last-second play.
Awarded a penalty corner with 25 seconds on the clock, USM let time run down before attempting its corner. Sirois again inserted the ball to Boghosian who hit a driven ball toward the cage where sophomore Tayla Smedberg (Oxford, Maine/Oxford Hills) awaited for the deflection. Smedberg was able to get just enough on the ball for the game-tying goal to force overtime.
Neither team was able to score during the 30 minutes of overtime. Bates had a 10-0 advantage on shots in overtime despite playing a man-down due to a yellow card in the second overtime period. Kasbohm made seven saves for the Huskies during the extra time to help force the shoot out.
Kasbohm finished with 19 saves in the win establishing a new career-high. Knox took the loss making four saves in 94:33 of action. Knox entered the game in the sixth minute replacing Bates starter senior Cristina Vega (Needham, Mass./Dana Hall). Vega allowed one goal and did not record a save.
Southern Maine returns to Little East Conference action on Saturday (2:30 p.m.) when it hosts Worcester State. Bates College hosts Middlebury College in a NESCAC contest on Saturday (12:00 p.m.).
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