DANBURY, Conn.   -  Senior Hunter Stonebraker (Mont Vernon, NH/Souhegan) made seven saves to earn her fifth shutout of the season to backstop the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 0-0 draw on the road at Western Connecticut State University in a Little East Conference women's soccer game at Westside Stadium.
 
With the draw, Southern Maine is now 6-0-1 in the Little East, and secures the 2024 Little East Conference Regular Season Championship, and top seed in the upcoming LEC tournament.  The Huskies have now claimed the title of Regular Season Champions the last three seasons (2022, 2023, and 2024), and are back-to-back conference tournament winners (2022, 2023).
 
The Records:
Southern Maine (12-2-3, 6-0-1 LEC)
WestConn (9-5-4. 4-1-2 LEC)
 
Today's game marked 37^th meeting between the Western Connecticut State University Wolves and the University of Southern Maine Huskies.  Southern Maine is 3-0-1 against the Wolves in their last four meetings, and including a 3-0 win over WestConn in last year's Little East Conference Championship game.  WestConn leads the overall series 32-4-1.  Today's game is the first time since 2000 that the Huskies had a positive result on the road at WestConn.
 
How It Happened:

• In a back-and-forth start to the game, Southern Maine's Catriona Gould (Freeport, Maine) nearly had the opener in the 25^th minute before her would-be goal was cleared off the line by WestConn's Sophia Onek.
• In the second half, the Huskies had several chances glance wide of the net, while junior Riley Reitchel (Palermo, Maine/Erskine Academy) had her best chance of the game in the 66^th minute turned aside by WestConn goalkeeper Gracen Regan.
• WestConn put two shots softly on target in the 85^th and 88^th minute, but Stonebraker continued to play a solid game keeping the Wolves out of the nets. Husky senior Mia Sargent (Portland, Maine/Deering) had the best last chance of the game flighting a direct kick in the 90^th minute just high of the far post corner before the end of regulation.

 
The Goalkeepers:
SM, Hunter Stonebraker (7-1-3), 90:00, 0 GA, 7 Saves
WCSU, Gracen Regan (5-3-3), 90:00, 0 GA, 4 Saves
 
Inside The Stats:

• Both teams had two corner kicks in the contest, while USM had a 12-11 advantage in shots. 

 
Up Next:
Southern Maine hosts VTSU-Castleton on Saturday, November 2 (12:00 pm) in its final LEC regular season game.  The 2024 Little East Conference tournament begins on Tuesday, November 5. As the 2024 Regular Season Little East Conference Champions, the Huskies have a quarterfinal round bye, and will host a semifinal game on Thursday, November 7 (tba). 
           
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