Auburn, ME - Playing their third Yankee Conference game in four days, the Central Maine Lady Mustangs took on a tough Unity College team in what turned out to be very hot and humid conditions. Using a slightly different lineup than the previous two games, the Mustangs came out immediately attacking the Unity goal but were turned away repeatedly. The game then proceeded to be a race up and down the field with both teams trading shots.
Twelve minutes into the game Samantha Belardo (Russell, MA) sent a pass to Deliah Schreiber (Lisbon, ME) who blasted a shot over the head of the Unity goalkeeper to put the Mustangs up 1-0. The rest of the half was a very evenly played game and the half ended with a Central Maine 1-0 lead even though the Rams held the edge in shots by almost a two to one margin.
The second half began in much the same way the first half ended. A lot of play in the middle of the field with both teams occasionally penetrating the opposing attacking third. Seven minutes into the half, Belardo earned a goal of her own by picking up a loose ball and breaking through the Ram defense to put the Mustangs up 2-0. She would have several more very similar opportunities only to be denied by the goal post.
Unity bounced back at the 73-minute mark on an unassisted goal by Jordan Baker to close the gap to 2-1. The remainder of the game would finish with both teams having additional scoring opportunities but 2-1 Mustang lead held to the final whistle.
Ali Sult (Lisbon, ME) finished with 8 saves off 9 shots on goal by Unity, while the Ram goalkeeper, Sarah Cantwell earned 9 saves off 11 shots on goal from the Mustangs. Central Maine had the slight edge in total shots with 18 to the Rams total of 17.
The Lady Mustangs hit the road again on Friday, September 21st, traveling to Rhode Island for their first-ever non-conference game against Community College of Rhode Island with their next home game the following day against a tough conference opponent in NHTI.
