Box Score Little East Conference Tournament - First Round Game
Southern Maine Defeats Eastern Connecticut in Sudden Death OT, 19-18
GORHAM, Maine -- Senior Julia Pearl (Essex Jct., Vt.) scored on a free-position attempt 1:33 into sudden death overtime to give the fourth-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies a thrilling 19-18 victory over the fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors in a first round game of the 2015 Little East Conference Tournament on Tuesday at Hannaford Field.
The victory moves the Huskies into a semifinal match Thursday evening (6:30 p.m.) at top seeded Plymouth State University. The game will be played at the New Hampton School. The Huskies are now 7-11 overall. The Warriors' season comes to a close at 4-12 overall.
Pearl was awarded a free-position attempt, and made no mistake as she moved in a few steps and fired a shot into the top right corner for the game-winning goal.
The game appeared to be over with 12.8 seconds remaining in regulation time when the Huskies scored an apparent go-ahead goal. In the ensuing celebration, the officials were unable to discern which crosse had scored the goal for a possible stick challenge, and the goal was taken down leaving the game tied 17-17. Eastern Connecticut was given the ball at midfield, but was unable to get a shot off before the horn sounded sending the game into overtime.
In the first overtime period (six minutes played to conclusion), Eastern Connecticut got the jump as sophomore Paige Schneider (East Lyme, Conn.) scored her 40th goal of the season 30 seconds into the period.
After the teams swapped ends midway through the overtime, the Huskies got an equalizing goal on a free-position attempt by junior Shauna Robert (Lyman, Maine/Massabesic) with 1:14 to play. USM had another free-position opportunity 25 seconds later, but junior Sarah Pelligrinelli's (Southington, Conn.) shot was wide and time would run out before either side could generate a shot, setting up sudden death overtime.
The first half was a wide-open affair that ended in an 11-11 tie. Southern Maine's biggest edge came at 10-7 on a goal by senior Nicole LaPlante (South Portland, Maine) with 6:42 to go.
Eastern Connecticut came right back scoring three times in a span of 1:44 to tie the game. Freshman Katie Burke (South Windsor, Conn/East Catholic) had the first and third goals while sophomore Caroline Regan (Niantic, Conn./East Lyme) tallied the middle marker.
LaPlante and sophomore Devyne Doran (South Kingstown, R.I./Prout School) scored in the final three minutes to leave the game deadlocked at 11-11.
Southern Maine appeared to have the upper hand midway through the second half building a four-goal cushion on a goal from sophomore Lauren Lessard (Lewiston, Maine/Kents Hill) that made it 17-13 with 15:35 to play.
The Warriors would shut down the Huskies' offense with a swarming defense from that point. Inside 14 minutes to play, freshman Maggie Bodington (Stratford, Conn.) ignited a run of four Eastern Connecticut goals to tie the game. Bodington and Schneider, converting a free-position attempt, scored 43 seconds apart left to pull the Warriors within one with 8:07 remaining, and Bodington tied the game with 3:36 on the clock.
LaPlante, Pelligrinelli and sophomore Sam Campobasso (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) had four goals apiece for the Huskies. Pearl, Robert and junior Anh Nguyen (South Portland, Maine) each scored twice. Junior goalie Caley Presby (Portland, Maine/Deering) stopped 12 shots.
Bodington and Schneider led the Warriors with five goals apiece. Senior captain Meg Eremita (South Windsor, Conn.) had two goals and four assists for a six-point game. Doran, Burke and Regan all scored twice. Sophomore goalie Taylor Emmerson (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) made 10 saves.
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