Huskies Scratch Past Women's Soccer, 2-1

WESTFIELD, Mass.  –  Reily Reitchel (Palermo, Maine/Erskine) and Julia McKenna (Windham, Maine) each had a goal and an assist for the University of Southern Maine as the Huskies held off Westfield State, 2-1 in a crisply played women's soccer match at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon. 

Southern Maine improves to 3-0 with the win, while Westfield is now 0-1-2 while playing a rugged early season schedule.  After playing in Tennessee the opening weekend of the season, the Owls will now travel to Biddeford, Maine on Sunday for another non-conference match-up at the University of New England, making it a total distance of 1,028 miles over the first four games for Westfield.

Westfield grabbed a 1-0 lead over USM with a goal from Delaney Parker (Orange, Mass.) in the 14^th minute.  On a set piece, Westfield's Erin White (Plympton, Mass.) delivered a long ball from midfield that Kiana Muratsuka (Mililani, Hawaii) flicked on to Parker on the left side of the penalty area for the goal.

The Huskies leveled the score in the 30^th minute as Reitchel sent a long ball down the left side for McKenna in a tight onside/offside call, and McKenna was in clean for the tying goal.

McKenna and Reitchel reversed roles on the third goal of the day, as McKenna sent Reitchel in on the right side. Reitchel's initial blast of a shot was saved by Westfield's Julia Robak (Chicopee, Mass.), but the rebound bounced right back to Reitchel, who found the back of the net on the second shot.

Robak kept the Owls chances alive all afternoon with outstanding play between the pipes and patrolling the penalty area. She finished with 10 saves, several on point-blank shots in the second half.

Southern Maine out-shot the Owls 23-11 and held a 13-1 advantage in corners.

Westfield generated most of their offensive pressure in the first half, as they played with the wind as inclement weather was in the forecast.   The Owls offense had to play into a steady wind in the second half and were mired in the defensive half for most of the period, as the Huskies outshot the Owls 11-3 in the second stanza.

Parker led the Owls with six shots on goal.  Already the Owls' all-time leader in goals and points, today's marker was the 67^th of her career and her 162^nd career point.

For Southern Maine Breanna Atwood (Franklin, Mass.) made eight saves in goal, six in the first half.