GORHAM, Maine – Senior Anna Byers (Milford, Ct./ Joseph A. Foran) had a hat trick in the fourth quarter to help lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 13-11 win against the Bridgewater State University Bears on Friday afternoon in Gorham. The teams combined for 11 fourth quarter goals in a back-and-forth game. A three-goal run from Byers, junior Cierra Hill (Pembroke, N.H./Pembroke Academy) and junior Katelyn D'Appolonia (Yarmouth, Maine) in just under two minutes turned a 10-9 Bridgewater State lead into a 12-10 advantage for the Huskies with 3:01 left to play. Riley Bina brought the Bears within a goal at 12-11 with 2:04 left before an insurance goal by Byers in the final minute allowed the Huskies to close out the win.
 
D'Appolonia scored four goals in the game to lead the Huskies. Byers finished with three goals and an assist. Hill and junior Maddie Kinney (Topsham, Maine/ Mt. Ararat) each had a goal and an assist while fifth-year senior Kiaya Gatchell (Portland, Maine/Deering) scored twice. Camryn Gonsalves led all players with five goals and Meredith Sylvia had a hat trick for the Bears as well.
 
The Records:
Bridgewater State: 4-1
Southern Maine: 2-2
 
Series History:
Today's game was the fifth in the all-time series between the two schools. BSU leads the series 3-2 but the last two matchups have gone to the Huskies.
 
The Goaltenders:
BSU: Sara Skaff (4-1), 60:00, 13 goals allowed, 10 saves
Southern Maine: Lydia Laslavic (2-2), 60:00, 11 goals allowed, five saves
 
How It Happened:

• Sylvia got the scoring started with a goal 1:30 into the action off a feed from Savannah Herrington before the Huskies answered with an up-goal by D'Appolonia. Sylvia scored the only goal of the quarter on a free-position shot with 4:37 left.
• Gatchell scored twice in the first four minutes of the second with a goal by Gonsalves interrupting the sequence. A free-position goal by Erin McIntyre tied the game at 4-4 and the Bears took the lead 5-4 on another score from Gonsalves. However, sophomore Eliza Pattershall (Readfield, Maine/ Maranacook) sent the game to halftime tied thanks to a buzzer-beating goal that Hill picked up the assist on.
• Byers set up D'Appolonia for another goal with 8:32 left in the third before the Bears tied the game again on a free-position goal from Gonsalves. The Huskies ended the quarter with the lead at 7-6 on a free-position goal of their own from junior Molly Black (Windham, Maine).
• The first five minutes of the fourth quarter featured five goals between the two teams. The Bears worked quickly and tied the game at 7-7 when a successful clear by Bina set up an open Ashley Silva in front of the net. Black then reclaimed the lead for the Huskies less than a minute later and Byers extended the lead 1:01 later to put USM ahead 9-7 with 11:46 to play. Gonsalves answered the call for the Bears with back-to-back goals to tie the game at 9-9 with 10:56 left on the clock.
• Sylvia gave Bridgewater State a 10-9 lead with a free-position goal before Black set up Byers in front of the net to tie the game with 5:01 to go. D'Appolonia won the draw control that followed, and Hill worked her way through the defense and fired a shot past Skaff to make the score 11-10. D'Appolonia then converted a fee-position attempt to give the Huskies their largest lead of the afternoon at 13-10 with 3:02 left in regulation.
• Bina countered with a goal to make the score 12-11 with 2:04 left. Southern Maine was awarded the ball on the draw control and was able to milk the clock down to under 60 seconds before Byers extended the lead to 13-11. Byers collected a loose ball after a high pass, ducked a defender and found space to rip a shot into the net to complete her hat trick. The Bears won the draw control, but the Huskies defense clamped down and Black kicked away a loose ball that was dropped by a Bridgewater player to ice the game.

 
Inside The Stats:

• The Huskies led 23-16 in shots on goal and 14-13 in draw controls.
• D'Appolonia led all players in draw controls with six followed by BSU's McIntyre and Sophia Fleurent with five each.
• Bridgewater State was 4-for-10 on free-position shots and the Huskies went 2-for-6.
• Gatchell had six ground balls for the Huskies and D'Appolonia had five.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies have two home games next week starting with a 6:00 pm game on Wednesday against Saint Joseph's College of Maine. The Huskies will then play UMaine Farmington on Saturday, March 15 at 1:00 pm.