PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Five third quarter goals helped the number two seed Plymouth State Panthers pull away from the third seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies on Thursday night in the semifinals of the 2023 Little East Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. Julia Donovan scored five times for the Panthers with three of her goals coming in the second-half. With the win the Panthers advance to the conference championship where they will face top seed Western Connecticut State.
 
When and Where: May 4, 2023 – Plymouth, N.H. – Panther Field
 
The Records: #2 Plymouth State: 11-6, #3 Southern Maine: 10-9
 
The Goalies: 
UMD: Margie Black: 10-5, 10 saves, eight goals allowed, .556 save percentage
USM: Cece Racine: 10-8, 13 saves, 11 goals allowed, .542 save percentage
 
How It Happened:

• Emily Santom scored three minutes into the game to give the hosts an early 1-0 lead.
• Senior Rachel Shanks (Naples, Maine/Lake Region) tied the game with a free-position goal before junior Jillian Nichols (Gorham, Maine) gave the Huskies the lead with a goal with 6:15 left in the first quarter.
• Less than a minute into the second quarter freshman Maddie Kinney (Topsham, Maine/ Mt. Ararat) scored to put USM ahead 3-1.
• The Panthers roared to life and tied the game at 3-3 thanks to two goals from Donovan, one of which came with a player advantage.
• Amelia Thomas put Plymouth State on top 4-3 with less than two minutes remaining in the half but with just 18 ticks on the clock sophomore Julia McKenna (Windham, Maine) netted a goal to send the teams into the break knotted up at four goals apiece.
• Plymouth State scored twice in the first five plus minutes of the third only for the Huskies to counter with two goals of their own 40 seconds apart. The tie only lasted for about 21 seconds of game time as Donovan successfully converted a free-position attempt and Maddie Hunt made the Plymouth lead 8-6 shortly after.
• Donovan added another goal before the quarter came to an end to give Plymouth State a 9-6 lead heading into the final frame.
• The Huskies were unable to catch the Panthers as each side scored twice in the fourth to make the final score 11-8. Shanks and McKenna each scored a free-position goal for Southern Maine and other side Thomas and Donovan each had goals.

 
Inside The Stats:

• The Panthers outshot the Huskies 35-29 in the contest and benefited from 20 Southern Maine turnovers while turning the ball over 12 times.
• Plymouth State had a slight 15-12 edge on ground balls and caused seven turnovers to USM's four. Freshman Cierra Hill (Pembroke, N.H./Pembroke Academy) was credited with three of the four caused turnovers.
• The Huskies scored on three of their 10 free-position shots while the Panthers scored on two of their 14. Shanks went 2-for-3 on free-position shots.
• Donovan's five goals were a game-high followed by three from Shanks and McKenna.
• Thomas and Hunter both had two goals and an assist for Plymouth State.
• Elle Moshier had two assists and a goal.
• Kinney and junior Kiaya Gatchell (Portland, Maine/Deering) had assists for the Huskies.

 
Up Next: Southern Maine concludes its 2023 season with a 10-9 record.