GORHAM, Maine – Graduate student Sydney Dubois (Goffstown, N.H.) scored 51 seconds into overtime to cap off a run of five unanswered goals as the third-seeded Plymouth State University Panthers defeated the second-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies 8-7 in a Little East Conference Championship Tournament semifinal game Thursday afternoon at Hannaford Field.
            The win moves the Panthers, 7-2 on the season, into Saturday's championship game against top-seeded Western Connecticut State University.  WestConn defeated fourth-seeded Keene State College 11-8 in the other semifinal.  The Huskies finished their season at 6-3.
            Down 7-3 with just under 16 minutes remaining in regulation time after a goal from USM senior Alex Farley (Buxton, Maine/Bonny Eagle), the Panthers found the net four times before the final horn in regulation to force overtime.  Senior Elizabeth McLaughlin's (Melvin Village, N.H./Kingswood Regional) free-position conversion with 2:41 left tied the game at 7-7.
            Southern Maine had one final possession in the last minute, and after a timeout could not get a shot off before the buzzer sounded sending the game into overtime.
            The Panthers got the ball in overtime off a Husky turnover.  Sophomore Olivia Croke (Norwell, Mass.) received the ball below the goal line and found Dubois driving towards the net with a pass and the grad student bounced her game-winning shot past USM senior goalie Mariah Vaillancourt (Lewiston, Maine/Edward Little).
            The Huskies built a 4-2 lead in the opening half on two goals from Farley and one apiece from graduate student Jennifer Darasz (Gorham, Maine) and junior Rachel Shanks (Naples, Maine/Lake Region).  The Panthers countered with free-position goals from McLaughlin and junior Devon Mello (Laconia, N.H.).
            Sophomore Emily Santom (Litchfield, N.H./Bishop Guertin) opened the second-half scoring for PSU at 22:14 to make it 4-3.  Two goals from Farley and one from senior Megan Violette (Portland, Maine/Deering) over a span of 4:29 gave the Huskies their largest lead of the game at 7-3.
            Santom ignited the Panthers' comeback with her second goal of the game at 11:12.  Junior Kaylee St. Laurent (Alfred, Maine/Massabesic) and rookie Emily Le Do (Portsmouth, N.H.) scored 57 seconds apart to close the gap to one.
            Farley led all scorers with four goals for the Huskies.  Vaillancourt finished with seven saves.  McLaughlin paced the Panthers attack with two goals and two assists for four points.  Santom also had two goals, and Mello had a goal and one assist.  Senior goalie Meaghan Allard (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) stopped nine shots in the Panther cage.