PSU women’s soccer drops their first Little East Conference match in a 1-0 loss to Eastern Connecticut State University at home on Sat. Sept. 20 at 1:00 p.m. The game was the first conference game for both squads.
Senior Nicole Gaudette ended the stale mate at the 14:37 mark of the first half with a dazzling shot on goal. Gaudette, who is a two-time First Team All-LEC selection player, collected the ball in the offensive end and fired a 30-yard bomb into the top right corner of the net the unassisted goal and put the Warriors up 1-0. The goal was the 3rd goal this season for the senior and her 19 career goal. The Warriors had almost scored just 10 minutes early but the shot from first year Lauren Greeney smashed against the cross bar and went astray.
PSU battled hard the whole game and were proud of the way they played considering that last year they lost to ECSU 5-0. “The first half we played sluggish, and the second half we just couldn’t get it into the net,” said first year forward Jill Hannon. This loss was the 10 time the Panther’s fell to the Warriors of Eastern Connecticut.
Playing strong for the Panthers was first year goalie Angelina LaBroad, as she came up big with nine saves total. Junior Kim Church had to make a mere two saves to record her third shutout of the season in six starts. LaBroad now has a goal-against average of 0.73 and with her nine saves has 18 on the season so far. Church lowered her goals-against average to 0.53 and has a save percentage of .870.
The No. 8 ranked team in New England, Eastern demonstrated why they were so highly ranked by out shooting PSU 13-3 in the first half and 20-6 in the game. Junior Co-Captain Lauren Lavery had 3 of the 6 shots for PSU. Even with the shot advantage the Warriors could not put another one away against the hard fighting defense of the Panthers.
PSU will have to face a tough opponent versus their rivals from Keene State, and is sure to be a great game. “Obviously Keene State are our rivals, our intensity should be high,” said Hannon, “We are not looking for an easy win, we need to play smart and score, with a good combination of the two we should be fine.”
PSU, 2-2-2 overall, returns to action with a Little East Conference match-up against rival Keene State on Sat. Sept. 27 at 1:00 p.m. A winner of three straight, Eastern hosts defending conference champion Western Connecticut a week from Sun. The Colonials are ranked No. 17 in Division III.