Fort Kent, ME - The Mustangs traveled up to Fort Kent after practice on Thursday night to play the University of Maine Fort Kent Bengals for the second time in a week. A 2am hotel arrival pushed the start time back a couple of hours moving the contest to the afternoon. Using a different formation and missing three starters on the trip, Central Maine was defending right from the start and it only took 8 minutes for the Bengals to get on the board when Petagay Dixon put Fort Kent up 1-0. Three minutes later the Bengals doubled their lead on a goal by Nevillegail Able, assisted by Nayla Mendoza. Three minutes after that it appeared it might be a long day for Central Maine when Julia Audunsdottir scored their third of the day on an assist by Able to give the Bengals a 3-0 lead after 13 minutes. The Mustangs started to get their legs underneath them, adjust to a formation they has not used this year, and began to play with more confidence. The rest of the half would play out with no further scoring as Central Maine began to challenge the Bengals more and disrupt their possession game.
The second half began with some renewed energy on the part of Central Maine but eighteen minutes into the half Fort Kent got on the board again on a goal by Kamoy Brown from a scramble in front of the net. The Mustangs continued to intercept Fort Kent passes and challenge more aggressively allowing their fitness level to drive them at a faster pace than they began the game at and with just under six minutes left a corner kick by Emma Knowles (Manchester, ME) playing on the field for this game, went to Kate Blouin (Greene, ME) at the corner of the penalty area and she sent the ball to Mya Sirois (Monmouth, ME) who connected a one-touch left foot shot into the corner of the Bengal net to put Central Maine on the scoreboard.
Mustangs head coach, Rob Rodriguez commented, "We love playing top level teams like Fort Kent because they make us better and the second half of this game was one of the best halves of soccer this team has played so far and they did it on short rest while missing some key players."
UMFK goalkeeper, Dreanna Thaw had 2 saves on 3 shots on goal for the win and Central Maine keeper, Ava Simpson (Lewiston, ME) had 7 saves on 11 shots on goal in the loss.
The Mustangs are back in action on Thursday, September 14th in Concord, NH to face Yankee Small College Conference opponent NHTI.
