GORHAM, Maine – Rachel Shanks (Naples, Maine/Lake Region) scored five goals for the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a 11-9 loss to the Smith College Pioneers in each team's first game of the season. The Pioneers broke a 5-5 halftime tie with back-to-back goals in the third quarter and never relinquished the lead.
 
Caroline Sanders played a key role for Smith with a goal and four assists. Sadie Tschider also had three points from a goal and two assists while Gia Arancio and Kyra Hawk had hat tricks for the Pioneers.
 
Junior Julia McKenna (Windham, Maine) scored twice for the Huskies. Senior Kiaya Gatchell (Portland, Maine/Deering) and junior Emily Cloutier (Brunswick, Maine) each contributed a goal and an assist to Southern Maine's offensive efforts.
 
The Records:
Smith: 1-0
Southern Maine: 0-1
 
Series History:
The Huskies and Pioneers have now played twice with Smith winning both meetings. Smith took the first game by a score of 8-4 on March 16, 2023.
 
The Goaltenders:
Smith: Paige Rocha, 30:00, five goals allowed, five saves
Smith: Shannon Houtenville (1-0), four goals allowed, two saves
Southern Maine: Cece Racine (0-0), 60:00, 11 goal allowed, 10 saves
 
How It Happened:

• The Pioneers struck first with Arancio scoring following a USM green card, but Shanks scored twice in the quarter to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead after the first 15 minutes of action. Her first goal came 44 seconds after Arancio's and was on a free position shot.
• Smith outscored the Huskies 4-3 in the second quarter and tied the game with two goals in the final 2:19 of the half. Hawk had two of the Smith goals and the other two were scored by Jennie Arancio and Gia Arancio with the latter's being a down goal.
• Smith changed out goaltenders at halftime with Houtenville replacing Rocha. The Pioneers retook the lead 3:15 into the new half when Gia Arancio ripped a shot past Racine following a pass from Sanders. Sanders then doubled her team's lead minutes later with a goal of her own.
• Shanks scored again in the third period to get the Huskies back within a goal before Smith added another goal from Tschider with Sanders assisting once again with just over three minutes left in the quarter.
• Jennie Arancio scored again for Smith in the first three minutes of the final quarter before the Huskies battled back to make the score 9-8 with goals from Shanks and Gatchell. The Southern Maine comeback bid fell short as Emma Butterick and Hawk added goals to widen the gap.
• McKenna converted on a free position shot with 2:04 to go but the Pioneers held on for the 11-9 win.

 
Inside The Stats:

• The Huskies scored on four of the seven free position shots they took. Shanks and McKenna each scored twice.
• Racine made 10 saves in the game including five on free position attempts.
• Smith had a slight lead in shots at 27-26 and ground balls at 23-22. The shots on goal totals were 21-16 in favor of the Pioneers.
• The Huskies led 13-10 in draw controls led by senior Paige Rinaldi (Freeport, Maine) and junior Anna Byers (Milford, Ct./ Joseph A. Foran) with four. Rinaldi also caused four turnovers and had five ground balls.
• Sanders also had a terrific game defensively with four draw controls and six ground balls.

Up Next:
The Huskies are opening the season with a five-game homestead. The team will host the University of New England on Tuesday at 4:00 pm.