Auburn, ME - The Mustangs went into Saturday's home game against Hampshire College needing the win to secure the regular season championship for the Yankee Small College Conference. With Hampshire in rebuilding mode and the Mustangs certainly understanding the struggles that go with that, they used the game as development time for the part of their roster that had not seen much of the field the past couple of weeks. With their regular starting lineup playing out of position and seeing just enough field time to keep the knife edge sharp, the Mustangs turned the game over to their first year players to see if they could drive the season across the finish line and maintain the number one spot.  

While it was not always smooth, they got the job done. It would take ten minutes, but freshman Sarah Labbe (Biddeford, ME) would get her first collegiate goal off a cross by Nikki Salvadori (Windsor, ME) to put Central Maine up 1-0. In a teaching moment for the team the Mustangs were content to keep the game tight with that score going into the half-time break in order to keep the first year players feeling the pressure of having to grind out a win.  

The second half started with a similar lineup, but it only took a couple of minutes to double the lead when freshman, Madison Valentine (Minot, ME), was tripped in the box and awarded a penalty kick which she converted to increase the lead to 2-0. In the 65th minute of the game, Salvadori would get her first collegiate goal on a long shot off a pass by Nanaheemah Ntim-Barimah (Accra, Ghana) to increase the lead to 3-0. The final goal would come with seven minutes remaining in the game when Lakyn Hink (Porter, ME), getting a very short shift on the field, blasted a long shot past the Hampshire keeper to make it 4-0. Central Maine continued to attack but were fine walking away with a 4-0 win while getting playing experience for new players and allowing their starting lineup to recover from the last few pressure-filled games.  

Hampshire goalkeeper Sophie Johnson did a great job making 25 saves in the loss while Mustangs keeper Ava Simpson (Lewiston, ME) made one save to secure the win and the regular season championship.  

The Mustangs close out the regular season out in Pottersville, NY in a non-conference matchup with USCAA Division II opponent, Word of Life College, on Saturday Octocer 21st in a 11am kickoff.