GORHAM, Maine  – Graduate student Ciera Berthiaume (Windham, Maine) had two goals and a pair of assists to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 6-2 win over the Keene State College Owls in a Little East Conference women's soccer game Saturday afternoon at Hannaford Field.
 
With the win, Southern Maine establishes a new single-season record for wins (15), improving to 15-1, 7-0 in the Little East.  The Huskies win over KSC, coupled with a Western Connecticut loss today in LEC action (3-0 to UMass Boston), also secures the 2022 Little East Conference regular season championship and the top seed in the upcoming Little East Conference Championship tournament. USM has won 12 straight.
 
With her two goals and two assists for six points, Berthiaume becomes the first USM women's soccer player to surpass 100 career points (103).  Her two assists give her 19 assists in her career, setting the Huskies' standard for career assists. Already the program leader in career goals (42) and points (103), Berthiaume surpassed the previous mark of 18 assists set by Ali Hathaway (1998-2001).   
 
The Records:
Keene State (9-8-2, 2-5 LEC)
Southern Maine (15-1-0, 7-0 LEC))
 
How It Happened:

• Getting off to a shaky start, Southern Maine found itself trailing KSC 1-0 in the 16^th minute as Kayleigh Marshall and Amanda Marshall combined for the first goal of the game.  K. Marshall received a well-time ball from A. Marshall to beat Huskies' goalkeeper Bre Atwood (Franklin, Mass.) point blank to the near side.
• The LEC's leading goal scorer junior Catriona Gould (Freeport, Maine) quickly tied the game up putting her head onto a flicked on ball from Berthiaume in the 17^th minute to tie the score up at 1-1. The goal is Gould's school-record 17^th of the season. 
• With the game tied at 1-1 after half, Berthiaume put USM up 2-1 in the 48^th, knocking in a one-time volleyball off of service from graduate student Gaby Panagakos (Scarborough, Maine) for her fifth goal of the season. 
• The Huskies lead was short-lived however, as KSC's Riley Devine scored her first goal of the season, hustling her way to a loose ball in the box in the 49^th minute for a 2-2 game.
• Berthiaume immediately answered for the Huskies just seconds after the restart, carrying the ball down the left side of the field and scoring her sixth goal of the season, and second of the game with a far post goal from distance.
• Up 3-2, USM scored the next three goals of the game for the 6-2 final.  Sophomore Julia McKenna (Windham, Maine) ran onto a through ball from Berthiaume and scored her 11^th goal of the season in the 56^th minute.
• Freshman Riley Reitchel (Palermo, Maine/Erskine Academy) made it 5-2 in the 71^st on an assist from classmate Brittney Hill (Pembroke, N.H./Pembroke Academy), before senior Katie Lynch (Bellingham, Mass./Mount Saint Charles) scored the final goal of the game in the 86^th minute after putting back a deflected save.

 
The Goalkeepers:
KSC, Sonia Moritz (4-3-1) 90:00, 6 GA, 13 Saves
SM, Breanna Atwood (14-1), 90:00, 2 GA, 3 Saves
 
Inside The Stats:

• USM has set several records this season, including goals in a season (57), goalkeeper shutouts in a season (Breanna Atwood, 10), individual single-season goals (Catriona Gould, 17), individual points in a season (Gould, 40), career assists (Ciera Berthiaume, 19).  
• As a program, Southern Maine has never finished higher than third in regular season standings (5-2, 2000).  The Huskies 2022 LEC regular season championship is the first in program history.  The Little East has sponsored women's soccer as a championship sport since 1996.   

 
Up Next:
The Huskies play back-to-back this weekend and will face Brandeis University on Sunday (1:00 pm) in a non-conference game.  USM closes out its regular season with a key Little East Conference game at Western Connecticut State on Saturday (10:00 am).