UMass Dartmouth 3, Worcester State 1
Worcester, MA --- UMass Dartmouth scored three first-half goals to defeat Worcester State, 3-1, in Little East action at Coughlin Stadium this evening. With the win the Corsairs move to 7-4 and remain tied for first in the conference at 5-1 while the Lancers slip to 3-8 overall and 0-5 in the LEC.
With the game stalemated for the first 12 minutes of play, neither team got off a shot until UMass Dartmouth had three quick attempts on goal in a three minute stretch. Following a shot by Corsair freshman Eleanor Taylor (Fairhaven, MA), WSC committed a violation off the rebound. Junior Stephanie Kinchla (Falmouth, MA) came on for the penalty stroke and knocked in her team-leading 12th goal of the season at 15:20.
UMD scored less than five minutes later at 20:46 when Taylor netted a helper from senior Kylie Treat (Hampstead, NH) to put the visitors up 2-0.
Four minutes later the Corsairs looked ready add to their total when junior Jackie Anderson (Medway, MA) made an attempt at the open net, but sophomore Amanda Maillett (Saugus, MA) immediately to stopped the ball with her stick as she notched her second defensive save of the year.
The Lancers then dribbled the ball up the field and tried to take advantage with their first penalty corner of the match. On the ensuing play, sophomore Samantha Janda (Sterling, MA) hit a quick cross to junior Meghan Feehan (Lunenburg, MA) who hammered the ball right past UMD senior keeper Seana Golden (Somerset, MA) to slice the lead to 2-1.
Just before the end of the half the Corsairs gave themselves some insurance on the first marker of the season by third-year Kellie Ann Finn (Falmouth, MA) with junior Jackie Anderson (Medway, MA) assisting, to cap off the scoring for the period.
UMass Dartmouth ended the opening stanza with a 9-1 shot advantage; with WSC's only shot the goal.
After both teams came out onto the field to begin the second half, both defenses played outstanding as they effectively neutralized offensive attack. Taylor registered an early shot for UMD, but sophomore Katherine Masterjohn (Warren, MA) rejected it as that set the tone for the rest of the period.
The Lancers best opportunity to score in the second half came 17 minutes in when sophomore Kaitlin Delisle (Taunton, MA) had a breakaway look at the cage, but it was knocked away by Golden. Delisle again tried for the net two minutes later, but she was denied again by the keeper.
UMass Dartmouth controlled the ball the rest of the period as they had four shots on goal, but Masterjohn used her pads to turn aside each attempt.
The Corsairs ended the contest with a 16-5 lead in shots and a 9-4 edge in corners.
Masterjohn collected nine saves while Golden stopped three of the four shots she saw on the evening.
Worcester State heads to Salem on Saturday in a noontime Little East affair while UMD also continues conference play on Friday at 7 PM when they travel to Western Connecticut.