Auburn, ME - The Lady Mustangs went into their home opener in front of a large crowd with a 2-0 record, one of them a conference win against Machias matching up against the SMCC SeaWolves who were coming off a conference win last weekend against College of Saint Joseph Vermont. For the first half, the game was everything it was expected to be, a tough back and forth battle against two evenly matched rivals with both teams trading shots. The SeaWolves ended up drawing first blood off a rare mistake on a mishandled ball by Mustang keeper Ali Sult, who was otherwise excellent in the net, leading to a goal by Callie O'Brien. SMCC went into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
The Mustangs came out flat in the second half, giving up a goal by O'Brien, her second of the game in the first minute of play and Central Maine was unable to answer with a meaningful attack after that. Twelve minutes later, a Central Maine foul in the box led to a penalty kick taken by Jessica Haskell and suddenly the SeaWolves were up 3-0. In the 73rd minute, Jane Lester (Bundaberg, Australia) replaced Sult (Livermore Falls, ME) in the Mustang net and a couple of minutes later, SMCC had their fourth goal of the game scored by Emily Harris. With four minutes left in the game, the Mustangs finally got on the scoreboard when Ellie Harrington (Fareham, Hampshire, UK) put a long shot towards the far corner of the net that was finished by Megan Duval (Jay, ME) and the score was 4-1 SeaWolves. Shortly after that O'Brien scored her third goal of the game and SMCC came away with a 5-1 win.
The Mustangs will regroup and continue their home-stand with a 1pm game on Saturday against Hampshire College of Massachusetts, a conference opponent they have never faced in soccer, and on Sunday a 1pm game against Vermont Technical College.
