WORCESTER, Mass. – Hannah Erickson and Abbie Wing combined for seven goals for the Worcester State University Lancers in a 10-8 win against the University of Southern Maine Huskies. Erickson scored four times and Wings had three goals. Junior Cierra Hill (Pembroke, N.H./Pembroke Academy) led the Huskies with a hat trick and junior Katelyn D'Appolonia (Yarmouth, Maine) scored twice to go along with eight draw controls and three ground balls.
 
Worcester State's Shannon Donahue, Ashley Hurley and Molly Witkowski also had multiple points. Donahue scored once and had two assists. Hurley assisted on two goals and Witkowski scored twice. Olivia LaValle had 22 saves to earn the win for Lancers while senior Lydia Laslavic (Thomaston, Maine/Oceanside) made five saves for the Huskies.
 
The Records:
Southern Maine: 1-1
Worcester State: 3-0
 
Series History:
The Huskies and Lancers have now played three times with the Lancers leading 2-1. The Huskies won the first meeting on March 24, 2023 by a score of 11-10 in Worcester and the Lancers evened the series with a 9-6 win in Gorham on March 9, 2024.
 
The Goaltenders:
Southern Maine: Lydia Laslavic (1-2), 60:00, 10 goals allowed, five saves
Worcester State: Olivia LaValle (3-0), 60:00, eight goals allowed, 22 saves
 
How It Happened:

• Wing scored twice in the first quarter with Hill answering for the Huskies in between the goals. Donahue put the Lancers ahead 3-1 with 3:29 left in the quarter.
• Worcester State held onto the lead throughout the second quarter but two goals by D'Appolonia and another by fifth-year senior Kiaya Gatchell (Portland, Maine/Deering) sent the Huskies to halftime down a goal at 5-4. Junior Maddie Kinney (Topsham, Maine/ Mt. Ararat) had an assist on D'Appolonia's first goal.
• Hill fought through traffic in front of the net to tie the game at 5-5 with 9:49 left in the third quarter and the Huskies took their first lead of the game with 7:16 left in the quarter on a free-position goal by senior Anna Byers (Milford, Ct./ Joseph A. Foran). However, the teams went to the final quarter tied at 6-6 due to a strike by Erickson from Hurley.
• Hurley and Erickson teamed up again 36 seconds into the fourth quarter to give the Lancers a 7-6 lead and back-to-back goals from Witkowski less than 30 seconds apart extended the lead to 9-6. Wing then added another score to make the lead 10-6 before a free-position goal by junior Molly Black (Windham, Maine) cut the lead to 10-7.
• Hill completed her hat trick with 2:05 left but the Huskies could not finish the comeback attempt as LaValle made four saves to close out the game. Two of those stops came on free-position attempts.

 
Inside The Stats:

• D'Appolonia helped the Huskies to a 13-9 advantage in draw controls with eight by herself. Hill added three and Byers had two.
• The Huskies outshot the Lancers 39-17 and 30-15 in shots on goal, but LaValle withstood the bulk of the shots.
• Hill and Gatchell led the Huskies with four ground balls each. Hill also caused two turnovers. Kerry Brown led all players with six.
• Southern Maine went 2-for-6 on free-position shots while Worcester State was 0-for-1.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies have a road game at Bowdoin College on Tuesday at 4:00 pm.