Plymouth’s Masha Lange dribbles past Westfield’s Amanda Daly. (Photo courtesy of Plymouth State)
PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Junior Nikki Garvey (Cannan, N.H.) recorded her second straight hat trick and third of the season Saturday afternoon, Sept. 28, to lead Plymouth State University to a 7-4 victory over Westfield State University in Little East Conference field hockey action at Arold Field.
Garvey tallied her first goal of the game just 30 seconds after the opening whistle, and added consecutive goals to open the second-half scoring as PSU outscored the visitors 3-0 after the break. Garvey leads the LEC with 11 goals on the season. PSU won its fourth game in a row to improves to 4-3 overall and 3-0 in Little East Conference play.
Freshman Holly Brouillette (Burlington, Mass.) scored two goals for Westfield State as the Owls rallied from a 3-1 first-half deficit. Brouillette’s two goals came a little over two minutes apart, and gave Westfield a 4-3 lead late in the first half, but that was the extent of the Owls’ offense. Westfield drops to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the LEC.
PSU led 2-0 less than five minutes into the game. Garvey knocked in her own rebound 30 seconds in, and freshman Kaitlyn Wilder (Framingham, Mass.) took a nice pass from senior Jackie Morin (Scarborough, Maine) and fired the ball past the goalie on the right side for a 2-0 Panther lead.
Sophomore Emily Williams (Deerfield, Mass.) put the Owls on the scoreboard at the 10:12 mark, knocking in a rebound. Junior Sam Carberry (Shrewsbury, Pa.) gave PSU its two-goal margin back when she shot a loose ball from the slot that snuck inside the left post.
Westfield came alive with three goals in a span of four minutes to take a 4-3 lead. Junior Kelly Kenney (Suffield, Conn.) knocked in a rebound at 27:01 and Brouillette’s two scores put the visitors ahead with 4:13 remaining in the first half. PSU managed to pull even at 4-4 with 11 seconds left before the break when Morin finished off a 2-on-1 break with Wilder.
Garvey gave PSU the lead for good with a penalty stroke goal six minutes into the second half. She tapped in a rebound of a shot by freshman Masha Lange (Danville, N.H.) five minutes later to complete the hat trick and push the lead to 6-4. Freshman Kendal Lariviere (Dover, N.H.) finished off the scoring with five minutes remaining, deflecting home another shot by Lange that bounced past the goalie.
PSU finished with a 33-15 margin in shots and a 12-9 edge in penalty corners. Westfield goalie Megan Fountaine (Scituate, Mass.) was solid in net, finishing with 17 saves, while PSU junior Kaitlyn Warren (Boscawen, N.H.) made nine saves.
The Panthers are back in action Tuesday with a key LEC game at rival Keene State College, while Westfield returns home to host Bridgewater State University Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
