Field Hockey Falls to Southern Maine, 4-0

GORHAM, Maine -- Four different players scored a goal as the University of Southern Maine Huskies earned a 4-0 shutout win over the Bridgewater State University Bears in a Little East Conference field hockey game Saturday afternoon at Hannaford Field.

With the win, Southern Maine bounces back from a mid-week loss to improve to 3-2 overall and starts its 2015 Little East Conference season with a 1-0 mark.  The loss is the second straight for the Bears who dips to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

The Huskies struck early taking a 1-0 advantage in the fifth minute and never looked back en route to a 3-0 lead at the half.  Huskies' junior Jennifer Poulin (Winslow, Maine) recorded the first goal of the game redirecting a centering pass from senior Allison Ward (Rockland, Maine).

Junior Michaela Demers (Manchester, N.H.) doubled the Huskies' advantage 15 minutes later notching her first goal of the season in the 20th off of a feed from sophomore Tayla Smedberg (Oxford, Maine/Oxford Hills).

USM made it 3-0 just 55 second before the halftime break when sophomore Katelyn Tucker (Gray, Maine) collected a loose ball in the circle and poked it home for her first goal in a Huskies' uniform.

Bridgewater State controlled the pace of play in the opening 10 minutes of the second half forcing USM junior goalkeeper Amanda Kasbohm (York, Maine) to make several tough saves.  BSU sophomore Tori O'Dea (South Dennis, Mass.) had a pair of strong attempts early in the half, but was denied by Kasbohm. 

Southern Maine regained control and nearly had its fourth goal on a bid from Ward in the 45th minute, but Bears sophomore Janet Maher (Mansfield, Mass.) made the first of her two defensive saves in the game to keep it at 3-0.

The Huskies kept the pressure on and finally broke through for their fourth goal of the game in the 52nd minute as sophomore Kaylie Andrews (Kittery, Maine) collected a loose ball off of her own initial shot to give her team a 4-0 lead.

BSU freshman Allison Chappell (Raynham, Mass.) made three saves in the loss, while Maher finished with two defensive saves.  Kasbohm earned her second shut out of the season and fourth of her career making eight saves.

Southern Maine faces Manhattanville on Sunday (12:00 p.m.) in a non-conference game at home on Hannaford Field for its next contest.  Bridgewater State hosts Westfield State on Saturday (12:00 p.m.) in a Little East Conference match up.