Auburn, ME - The Lady Mustangs are in the most difficult part of their schedule with three conference games in four days, and then two more back to back games before the week is over. After winning at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA on Saturday afternoon, the Mustangs returned to campus late that night and did a quick turnaround to prep for their 11 am home game on Sunday morning, their first of the year, against Paul Smiths College of New York.
The Bobcats, also playing their second game in as many days came out as the aggressor and provided a wake-up call to a tired and sore Mustang team. It took Central Maine about 10-minutes to get settled in and begin to move the ball but once they did it turned into a good competitive game. Eleven minutes into the game freshman midfielder Cassidy Hart (Buckfield, ME) took a shot that bounced off a Bobcat defender into the net to put the Mustangs up 1-0. With 10-minutes to go in the half, Samantha Belardo (Russell, MA) put the Mustangs up 2-0 off a pass by Deliah Schreiber (Lisbon, ME). The half ended with a 2-0 Central Maine lead.
The second half began with an energized Paul Smiths team taking the attack to the Mustang net and 12-minutes into the half, Annie Dehaven, on an unassisted goal closed the gap bringing the Bobcats back into a game that saw a big momentum shift since the first half. The Mustangs still had some good opportunities but were outshot in the second half by a big margin. However, the Mustang defense turned back the Paul Smiths attack each time and the game ended with a Mustang 2-1 win.
Mustang goalkeepers Ali Sult (Lisbon, ME) and Skyler Henry (Waterford, CT) combined for a 10 save performance while Paul Smiths goalkeeper Rachel Michaels had 5 saves on 7 Mustang shots on goals. Total shots for the game were 15 for Paul Smiths and 11 for the Mustangs.
The Mustangs, who now sit at 3-2 overall, are back in action at home against Unity College in a conference matchup at 3pm on Tuesday, September 18th.
