Plymouth, NH --- Senior Laura Maunsell (Medford, MA) scored on a penalty kick with two minutes left in regulation play to help lift Worcester State University to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Plymouth State University in non-conference women's soccer action at Panther Field.
With the win the Lancers improve their record to 4-3 while the Panthers fall to 1-5 with the setback.
Maunsell's goal capped a Lancer comeback that started when freshman Kendal Bergenholtz (Grafton, MA) scored her first career goal in the 71st minute to tie the score at 1-1.
PSU junior Kate Nixon (Wakefield, MA) originally gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead midway through the first half with her second marker of the season.
Senior Molly Todd (Epsom, NH) help set up the Plymouth State goal as she slipped behind the Lancer defense in the 20th minute, but sophomore keeper Jillian Witkowski (Leicester, MA) came out to break up the shot. The ball squirted to the right side, where Nixon blasted the ball into the net.
The Lancers nearly tied the game with nine minutes left in the first half when a shot by senior Kelsey Cartwright (Bridgewater, MA) got past the goalie, but PSU sophomore defender Leah Swanson (Atkinson, NH) made a save on the goal line to keep the Lancers off the scoreboard.
Worcester State broke through midway through the second half when Cartwright sent Bergenholtz in on a breakaway with a beautiful lead pass and Bergenholtz beat the keeper to the bottom right to even the score at 1-1.
PSU nearly regained the lead with 12 minutes to play when junior Emily Bell (Derry, NH) played a nice crossing pass, but Todd was broken up trying to finish the play.
Junior Cassie Giardina (Pittsfield, MA) was looking for some insurance scoring for WSU with 6:50 remaining, however, her header bounced off the cross bar and PSU freshman keeper Annaliese Schmidt (Newmarket, NH) made a diving save on a shot by Giardina less than a minute later.
The Panthers had one last good scoring chance but Witkowski made the save on a long shot by senior Julie Behan (Laconia, NH).
Witkowski made with 11 saves to earn the win in the Lancer net while Schmidt finished with six stops at the other end.
On Saturday, both squads return their attention to conference opponents. Worcester State entertains Framingham State in a MASCAC battle at 10 AM while Plymouth State hosts Southern Maine at 1 o'clock in a Little East matchup.
Major Portions of Release Courtesy of Plymouth State Sports Information
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