Colborn, Morin Lead Panthers Past Owls, 5-1
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.
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