Allie Lucenta scored her first collegiate goal on a penalty stroke. (Photo by WSU)
PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Senior Olivia Colborn (Lancaster, N.H.) and junior Jackie Morin (Scarborough, Maine) tallied two goals each Wednesday afternoon as fourth-seeded Plymouth State University defeated fifth-seeded Westfield State University, 5-1, in a Little East Conference Field Hockey Tournament quarterfinal game at Arold Field.
Junior Lauren Carroll (Rollinsford, N.H.) also scored for PSU and sophomore Nikki Garvey (Canaan, N.H.) added two assists. The Panthers led just 1-0 at halftime but put the game away with four second half strikes before the visiting Owls added a late penalty stroke goal by freshman Allie Lucenta (Natick, Mass.).
PSU, 11-6 overall, advances to the LEC semifinals this Saturday, Nov. 3, against the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal game between top-seeded UMass Dartmouth and eighth-seeded Western Connecticut State University. The LEC Championship game is this Sunday, Nov. 4, at the site of the highest remaining seed. Westfield State completes its season at 11-7 overall.
Upset-minded Westfield played some outstanding defense in the first half to keep the game close. Colborn had two excellent scoring chances for PSU in the early going, but was broken up by senior goalie Khrystyna Mitchell (Shelburne Falls, Mass.) and sophomore defender Kelsey Carpenter (Barre, Mass.).
Colborn finally broke through for the Panthers with 11 minutes remaining in the first half, deflecting a long diagonal feed into the box from sophomore Sam Carberry (Shrewsbury, Pa.) up over the goalie’s shoulder. PSU out-shot the visitors 16-4 in the first 35 minutes but had to settle for a 1-0 margin at the break.
Carroll bunted a crossing pass from Garvey out of mid-air and into the back of the net five minutes into the second half to extend the PSU lead to 2-0. Morin scored the next two goals for Plymouth State just five minutes apart, making strong individual efforts each time and beating the goalie with low hard shots. Colborn made it a 5-0 Panther lead with 11:20 remaining, pounding home a crossing shot from Garvey that was deflected by sophomore Kristen Morris (Stoughton, Mass.).
Colborn now has a team-high 20 goals for PSU this season, becoming just the third player in school history to score at least 20 goals in a field hockey season.
Westfield broke up the shutout with 1:09 remaining when Lucenta converted a penalty stroke for her first career goal.
PSU finished with a 22-9 advantage in shots and an 18-8 margin in penalty corners. Junior Hilary Lemelin (Milan, N.H.) recorded the victory with five saves in the Panther cage, while Mitchell finished with eight saves for Westfield and junior Jess Rodier (Oxford, Mass.) made one stop during a seven-minute stint in the second half.
