GORHAM, Maine  – Graduate student Gaby Panagakos (Scarborough, Maine) and sophomore Julia McKenna (Windham, Maine) each scored in overtime to lead the top-seed University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 3-1 win over the second-seed Western Connecticut State University Wolves in the title game of the 2022 Little East Conference Championship Saturday afternoon at Hannaford Field.
 
With the win, Southern Maine claims the program's first Little East Conference tournament championship and earns the LEC's automatic qualification into the 2022 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament.  The NCAA will announce the tournament field on Monday, November 7 at 2 pm. 
 
Huskies' junior back Mia Sargent (Portland, Maine/Deering) was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.  Sargent led the Huskies' defense to a pair of wins, including a 4-0 shutout over Castleton and today's 3-1 win over WestConn. 
 
The Records:
No. 2 Western Connecticut (13-7-1)
No. 1 Southern Maine (17-3-0)
 

• Today's 3-1 overtime win over the Wolves marks just the second Southern Maine victory in the 34-game series between the two schools.  Playing in Connecticut, WestConn defeated the Huskies 1-0 on October 29 this season. 

 
How It Happened:

• Junior Catriona Gould (Freeport, Maine) put the Huskies up early in the contest scoring her conference-leading 20^th goal of the season in the ninth minute.  Gould picked up a loose ball in the box and fired in a shot to the far post.
• Gould's goal stood through the half as both teams played a wide-open game combining for 21 shots in the first 45. The Wolves put four shots on frame in the half, but Husky goalkeeper Breanna Atwood (Franklin, Mass.) was up to the task.  WestConn had a near equalizer late when Suzana Imetovski (Seymour, Conn.) hit the cross bar in the 37^th minute.
• WestConn found its equalizer in the 57^th off of the boot of Imetovski. Collecting a misplayed ball in the back, Imetovski drove at the Huskies' goal and was one-on-one with Atwood, netting her 13^th goal of the season to the far post.  
• The game continued its back-and-forth feel.  McKenna nearly had the Huskies' second goal of the game minutes after the Wolves' equalizer, ripping a shot off of the cross bar. Atwood kept the game even making a diving stop in the 67^th minute off of a shot from Myah Croze (Bristol, Conn.). Atwood made six of her 10 saves in the second half.
• With the game locked at 1-1 after regulation, both teams were set to play two 10-minute overtime halves.
• USM pressured early in the first overtime, and went up 2-1 in the 96^th minute when Panagakos tapped in her seventh goal of the season on a well-paced and unselfish pass from freshman Riley Reitchel (Palermo, Maine/Erskine Academy).
• In the second overtime, the Huskies again dominated play, putting a shot off the crossbar early from sophomore Aly Veilleux (Manchester, N.H.) before McKenna sealed the win with her 12^th goal of the season off of an assist from Gould in the 106^th minute. Up by two, USM ran out the clock to claim the title.

 
The Goalkeepers:
WC, Kasey Donnelly (2-1-1), 110:00, 3 GA, 8 Saves
SM, Breanna Atwood (15-3), 110:00, 1 GA, 10 Saves
 
Inside The Stats:

• Atwood's 12^th shutout of the season is the 16^th of her career.  Already the single-season record holder for shutouts, Atwood is third in career shutout records.  She has a 0.71 goals against average and 0.873 save percentage. 
• Gould, the Huskies' single-season goal scoring record and points record holder, now has 20 goals and seven assists this season for 47 points. She has 29 goals and 11 assists in her career for 69 points. 

 
 
Up Next:
The Huskies, the 2022 Little East Conference Regular Season Champions, will await the NCAA's tournament field announcement on Monday.  Sixty-four teams will qualify for the tournament.  First and second round games will be played on Saturday and Sunday, November 12-13