Vaughan Notches Game-Winner, Give USM 2-1 Win Over Westfield State

GORHAM, Maine – Senior forward Kayla Vaughan (Monroe, Maine/Mt. View) drilled in the game-winning goal with just over two minutes remaining in regulation to give the University of Southern Maine Huskies a 2-1 Little East Conference field hockey win over the visiting Westfield State College Owls, Saturday at Hodgdon Field on the Gorham campus.

With their first win of the season, the Huskies move to 1-0 in the LEC and 1-2 overall. The Owls, suffering their second loss in as many games, remain winless on the season with a mark of 0-2 and 0-1 in conference action.

Vaughan hammered in the game-winner off of a perfectly placed centering pass from sophomore forward Lisa Henley (Bristol, Vermont/Middlebury Union). Henley, who carried the ball down the left side of the field, found a streaking Vaughan for the helper with 67:50 gone in the game.

The Huskies took an early 1-0 lead as reserve sophomore forward Erika Kroon (Bryantville, Mass./Silver Lake Regional) tallied her first goal of the season, no sooner than she had entered the game, 16 minutes into the first half.

However, the Owls came back to knot the game up at one goal a piece late in the second on an unassisted strike from junior midfielder Kate Anderson (Georgetown, Mass./Georgetown). Anderson notched the equalizer firing in a goal with 62:51 off of the game clock. But, the score remained 1-1 for just five minutes as Henley and Vaughan connected to give the Huskies the win.

Southern Maine returns to action Tuesday, September 13 on the road at New England College for a non-conference tilt at 4 p.m. Westfield State plays again Monday, September 12 at 3 p.m. at Western New England College.

At Gorham, Maine 1 2 F

Westfield State (0-2, 0-1 LEC) 0 1 1

USM (1-2, 1-0 LEC) 1 1 2

Scoring: 1. SM, Erika Croon (unassisted), 15:58 ; 2. WS, Kate Anderson (unassisted), 62:51; 3. SM, Kayla Vaughan (Lisa Henley) 67:50

Goalie Saves: SM, Sadie Garnache-Piorier 3; WS, Cat Hanks 7

Shots: SM, 14 WS, 7

Penalty Corners: SM, 9 WS, 7

Defensive Saves: WS, Ashley Brogan

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