WATERVILLE, Maine - Husson University and Thomas College won their respective semifinals games in the New England Collegiate Conference Field Hockey Championship, earning the right to advance to Sunday's finals at 1 p.m. at Thomas.
The first game featured no. 4 seed New England College and no. 1 seed Thomas College, with the Terriers coming away 5-2 win over Pilgrims. While Thomas won both regular seasons over NEC in overtime, the Terriers dominated the Pilgrims.
The Pilgrims started the game controlling the ball movement and having multiple opportunities on penalty corners in the first ten minutes. The Terriers were able to turn the momentum with a goal by junior
Lauren Blood just past the ten minute mark of the first quarter.
Senior NECC Player of the Year
Britney Gregoire gave Thomas a 2-0 lead with 5:04 remaining in the second quarter with a pass from her twin sister Lindsey Greogire. The Pilgrims would not go down without a fight, Meaghan McCamish got her team on the board 1:48 into the second half.
Lindsey Gregoire scored two goals within two minutes of each other with the first one coming five minutes in to the second half, giving Thomas a 4-1 lead. Both goals were scored off of tipped balls, the first one off of a shot by sophomore
Kayci Faulkingham and the second from
Britney Gregoire.
New England College trimmed the lead back to two goals off an unassisted goal with seven minutes remaining in the game by Drea Chin, an NECC All-Conference player. However the Terriers lead was just too much to overcome.
First Year
Julia Reny put the final nail in the coffin with under a minute to play, giving her team a 5-2 lead and guaranteeing Thomas their spot in the Championship finals.
In the second semifinal, the no. 2 seed Husson squeaked past no. 3 seed University of Maine at Farmington by a score of 1-0 in a game that featured impressive defensive efforts by both teams.
Husson had six more shots and had an 8-2 advantage in penalty corners. The Beavers had four great defensive saves, two by Gracie Foss and two by Lydia Wasina to keep the game within striking distance.
Allie Drew scored the lone goal for the Eagles at 35:04 off of a loose ball out front of goalie Katelyn Rouleau.
Kimmie Goddard got the win in the goal cage for Husson, stopping all six shots she faced. Goddard was named as the lone goalie to the NECC All-Conference Team earlier this week.
Husson will play host Thomas on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the NECC Championship game.
