(Courtesy of Western Conn. Sports Information)

Huskies Host Rhode Island College on Tuesday (4:00 p.m.)

            DANBURY, Conn. -- The Western Connecticut State University women's lacrosse team overcame a five-goal second-half deficit with a 7-1 run, and then held on down the stretch to claim an 18-17 victory over the University of Southern Maine in Little East Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Westside Athletic Complex.

            With its fifth straight win, Western Connecticut improved to 8-4 on the season, and 3-0 in the Little East Conference.  Southern Maine fell to 3-9 overall, and 0-2 in the conference.

            For Western, senior Kelsey Keaton (New Milford, Conn.) scored six goals, sophomore Destinee Carey (New Milford, Conn.) scored five, and freshman Lindsey Eanniello (Danbury, Conn.) tallied four.  Freshman Ellie Calcavecchio (Brookfield, Conn.) scored twice and sophomore Raquel Heitor (Danbury, Conn.) scored once.  Carey also had four assists to finish with a game-high nine points.

            Leading the Southern Maine offensive effort were senior Nicole LaPlante (South Portland, Maine) with five goals, junior Anh Nguyen (South Portland, Maine) with four goals, junior Sarah Pelligrinelli (Southington, Conn.) with three goals, and sophomore Lauren Lessard (Lewiston, Maine) who scored twice.  Nguyen also had three assists.

            Carey got Western on the board in the first minute of play to give the Colonials a quick 1-0 lead, but goals from Pelligrinelli and sophomore Sam Campobasso (Buxton, Maine) on back-to-back possessions for Southern Maine four minutes later gave the Huskies a 2-1 lead at the 24:25 mark.

            Carey evened things for the Colonials, 2-2, off a pass from Eanniello, but a pair of unassisted goals from sophomore Heather Everett (Waterboro, Maine/Massabesic) and Pelligrinelli put the visitors in the lead 4-2.

            After a free-position goal by Heaton, Lessard and senior Julia Pearl (Essex Jct., Vt.) scored to push the Southern Maine lead to 6-3.

            Western then went on a 3-1 run to narrow the margin to a single goal, 7-6, but a free-position goal by Nguyen and two goals by LaPlante put the Huskies up by four goals, 10-6, with just under three minutes remaining in the half.

            Each team scored in the final minute to make the score 11-7 in favor of Southern Maine going into the locker room at intermission.

            Nguyen scored early in the second half to push the Southern Maine lead to 12-7 and the Huskies still held a five-goal lead, 15-10, with 22 minutes remaining.

            Back-to-back goals by Eanniello, cut the USM lead to 15-12, and after a USM goal by Pelligrinelli, Western scored the game's next six goals to go ahead 18-16 with six minutes to play.

            Southern Maine narrowed the Western lead to 18-17 on a Lessard goal with 1:52 left, but a pair of Huskie penalties in the final minute of play allowed Western to hold on for the one-goal victory.

            For the game, Western held a 40-34 advantage in shots, and also had the edge in ground balls, 27-21.

            Western Connecticut goalkeeper Nicole Petruzzi (Thomaston, Conn.) made 11 saves to collect the win, while USM junior Caley Presby (Portland, Maine/Deering) recorded 13 saves in a losing effort.

            Southern Maine returns home to host Rhode Island College in an LEC match on Tuesday (4:00 p.m.).  Western Conn. returns to action on Thursday (7:00 p.m.) when they travel to play at Westfield State University. 

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