Huskies Use Second Half Surge to Come From Behind

            CASTLETON, Vt. -- The University of Southern Maine women's lacrosse team used a big second half to overcome a two-goal halftime deficit and defeat Castleton University, 12-9, in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

            The win was the first of the season for the Huskies and first-year head coach Ashley Durepo, and improved their record to 1-1.  The Spartans fall to 1-2 with the loss.

            Junior Aliza Jordan (Gorham, Maine) paced the Huskies offense with three goals and three assists.  All three of Jordan's goals came in the second-half comeback.  Classmate Colleen Fleming (South Portland, Maine) and rookie Alex Farley (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle) matched Jordan with three goals apiece.  Junior goalie Hala Van Nostrand (Granby, Conn.) recorded seven saves to earn her first win of the season.

            Sophomore Erin Shuttle (Georgia, Vt./BFA St. Albans) scored a game-high five goals and dished out one assist to lead the Spartan offense.  Senior Hannah Braman (Chelsea, Vt.) chipped in with two goals.  Junior goalie Samantha Hebb (Ashland, Mass.) made 15 saves.

            Down 7-5 at the break, Jordan made short work of the Huskies' deficit scoring twice in the opening 69 seconds of the second stanza to tie the game.  Fleming's third goal of the day at 24:07 gave the Huskies their first lead since early in the first half.  Jordan's third goal four-and-a-half minutes gave USM a two-goal cushion.

            Shuttle snapped a run of five consecutive USM goals with her fifth marker of the afternoon midway through half to close the gap to 9-8.  That would be the closest the Spartans would get as Farley and sophomore Megan Violette (Portland, Maine/Deering) scored 17 seconds apart to increase the Huskies lead to 11-8 with 11:19 to play.

            Junior Megan Wood (Waterford, Vt./St. Johnsbury) for Castleton and Farley traded goals in the final eight minutes to account for the final tally.

            In the opening half, sophomore Allison Irish (Lyman, Maine/Massabesic) gave USM a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the game.  Shuttle equalized 37 seconds later, and senior Emily Cross (Shaftsbury, Vt./Mt. Anthony) scored at 20:52 to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.

            After Farley tied the score at 2-2, the Spartans ran off three straight scores in a span of 2:58 to build a 5-2 advantage with 16:31 to play.  Braman netted the first marker, and Shuttle had the other two.

            Southern Maine travels to Husson University on Tuesday (4 p.m.) for the second of three consecutive non-conference road games.  Castleton hosts the University of New England for a non-conference game on Monday (4 p.m.).

-ble-