The third seeded Plymouth State’s Women’s Field Hockey team (12-7) lose a tough one, 2-1 in overtime, to the second-seeded Bridgewater State University Bears (11-7) last Friday at Swenson Field in Bridgewater, Mass. This loss puts the Panthers into the ECAC New England Tournament.
The game was hard fought throughout and the competition was fierce from the very beginning as first year student Jackie Morin (Scarborough, Maine) received a beautiful pass from senior Kristina Conroy (Wakefield, Mass.) that put the Panthers on the board only 1:44 into the contest. The goal was Morin’s eighth on the season, while Conroy has played extremely well throughout the year. The pass was Conroy’s eleventh this year.
The defenses and goalies for both the Bears and the Panthers put on a clinic as sophomore Hilary Lemelin (Milan, N.H.) and Katie Weber (Arlington, Mass) stopped every shot that was directed at them in the first period to keep the score 1-0 in Plymouth’s advantage going into halftime.
Once the second half started, the Lady Panthers came out with a vengeance by firing 12 shots in the second half, with multiple shots by Morin, sophomore Olivia Colborn (Whitefield, N.H.) and Conroy. Bridgewater’s goalie, in Weber, would stop every shot that the Panthers had to offer as she shut out Plymouth State in the second half. The Panther’s best shot to increase the lead to 2-0 was when junior, Erin Norris (Hilton, N.Y.) just missed the net to the left on a penalty stroke with under 10 minutes left in the game.
Hilary Lemelin appeared on her way to her 4th shutout of the year for the Panthers until Megan Cullinane (Lunenburg, Mass) had a fast break goal with 4:11 left in the 2nd half. This was the first time that the Panther’s defense showed a flaw throughout the game as the tenacious defense limited the Bears to only seven shot attempts during regulation.
The Panthers, led by Lemelin, ended regulation at a 1-1 tie, as overtime was needed in order to find out who would advance in the Little East Championship Game. The Bears appeared to have the momentum, but when Lemelin is controlling the pipes with a 1.82 goals against average, the Panthers can never be counted out.
The Panthers almost won the game when junior Lauren Bergeron (New Hampton, N.H.) had her penalty shot denied by Weber only seven minutes into the overtime period. Unfortunately for the Panthers, junior Breanna Clement (Pittsfield, Mass) scored nine minutes into the session.
While this was a tough loss for the Panthers, the playoffs are quickly approaching as the Panthers are the three seed in the ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference) Division III New England Tournament, as they will be playing Endicott College on Saturday at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. The Panthers lost to Endicott, 3-1, in the first game of the season, but I believe the Panthers will win this game 4-1 behind Conroy and Colborn and with Lemelin in the pipes.