GORHAM, Maine  –  Junior Bri Townsend (Newport, Maine/Nokomis) scored her team-leading 13^th goal of the season in the 38^th minute and senior Eleanor Folsom (Winthrop, Maine) earned her fourth shutout of 2025 to lead the third-seed University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 1-0 win over the sixth-seed Plymouth State University Panthers in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Little East Conference Field Hockey Championship Tuesday night at Hannaford Field.
 
THE RECORDS
No. 6 Plymouth State (5-12)
No. 3 Southern Maine (12-9)
 
Today's game the 61st meeting between the University of Southern Maine Huskies and the Plymouth State University Panthers. Plymouth State leads the overall series 36-22-3. However, Southern Maine has won seven of the last nine meetings, including five consecutively from 2018 through 2023. USM defeated the Panthers 4-1 during its 2025 regular season contest in Plymouth, NH.
 
THE GOALKEEPERS:
PSU: Natalie Merrick (5-12), 60:00, 1 GA, 10 Saves
SM:  Eleanor Folsom (12-9), 60:00 0 GA, 4 Saves
 
Defensive Saves: SM, Julie Elie
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Plymouth State came out on the front foot to start the contest and put several quality chances out on the field in the opening half.  Folsom kept the game 0-0 for the Huskies making a pair of sprawling stops as PSU outshot USM 6-3 in the first half.  Folsom made three of her four saves in the contest in the first half.
• Locked in a scoreless draw, Southern Maine picked up its intensity in the third quarter, outshooting PSU 7-3 and earning three penalty corners.  Panther goalkeeper Natalie Merrick was outstanding in net making 10 saves in the game, and made four saves in the third. 
• Townsend finally broke through for the Huskies in the 38^th minute. After her initial bide was turned aside by Merrick, Towsend stuck with the play and buried the rebound, lifting the ball high and into the corner. 
• Husky junior Dylan Barr (Phippsburgh, Maine/Morse) nearly double the Huskies advantage less than a minute later.  Carrying the ball into the circle with a burst of speed, Barr's bid sailed just high of the near post corner. 
• Merrick kept it a one-goal game early in the fourth, stopping four consecutive shots from the Huskies in short order.  The Panthers nearly had an equalizer on a penalty corner, but Sarah Adamske's drive was cleared off the line by Husky sophomore back Julie Elie (Dayton, Maine) for a defensive save.

 
INSIDE THE STATS:

• After being outshot 6-3 in the first half, Southern Maine bounced back to outshoot the Panthers 12 -6 in the second half, including a 7-3 advantage in the third – the quarter that the Huskies scored in.
• Both teams were even in penalty corners: Plymouth State 8, Southern Maine 7. 

 
 
UP NEXT:
Southern Maine will travel to second-seed Keene State on Thursday (6:00 pm) for a semifinal game of the 2025 Little East Conference Tournament.   The winner of that contest will advance to the championship game on Saturday (tba).  Eastern Connecticut is hosting VTSU-Castleton in the other semifinal on Thursday.
 
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