WATERVILLE — Becca Murphy broke a 2-2 tie with her second goal of the match, giving the University of New England a 3-2 non-conference women’s soccer win over Colby College on Tuesday afternoon at Loebs Field.

The victory extends the Nor’easters’ unbeaten streak to five to start the season ”“ their best start since 1994, when UNE reeled off 19 straight triumphs to begin the year.

The Mules are now 1-3. The win was Blue Blue’s first-ever at Colby and just their second in the all-time series.

The reigning Commonwealth Coast Conference and Eastern College Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week, Murphy gave Big Blue the margin for victory with just under 10 minutes remaining when she came up with a loose ball after a Colby clear attempt and found the back of the for her third game-winner in as many outings. It was Murphy’s second marker of the half after she gave UNE a 2-1 lead with a goal in the 70th minute.

After Murphy’s first goal, the Mules had knotted the score at two when Janie O’Holloran put home a feed from Georgia Lubrano for her first goal of the year.

The Nor’easters tallied the lone goal of the opening stanza as Kara Hecker one-timed a beautiful feed from Morgan Rodway with 2:46 to play before intermission.

Colby drew even early in the second when Maddie Tight ripped a shot from 25 yards out that found the upper right-hand corner of the goal. Cami Nataro found Tight with a cross to set-up the scoring play.

The stat sheet was relatively even, with UNE holding a slight advantage in both shots (15-12) and corner kicks (5-3).

Brielle Robinson played the first half in goal for Big Blue and registered three saves. Emily Richard came on after halftime to earn the win with a pair of stops.

Emily Brook turned aside six shots for Colby.

The Nor’easters will look for their sixth straight win Saturday when they play host to Gordon College at noon.

Women’s Volleyball

BIDDEFORD — Colby College received a combined 33 kills from sophomore Karolina Serhan, senior Sarah Arvidson and junior Kim Donaldson on the way to a 3-1 non-conference women’s volleyball victory over the University of New England on Tuesday evening at the Harold Alfond Forum. Set scores were 25-14, 25-14, 15-25, and 25-18.

The Mules (6-2) also got six block assists out of Serhan and 11 digs from Arvidson. First-year Emily Moslener paced the offense with 40 assists, and recorded 10 points of her own on service aces. Junior Natalie Roy pulled up a match-high 20 digs, and sophomore Elizabeth Noyes collected 12 more.

Sophomore Grayson Szczepaniak led the Nor’easters (2-8) with 13 kills and a pair of solo blocks. Senior Leah Janelle added eight winners and 10 digs, and first-year Courtney Lambrese served up three aces while posting two solo blocks. Rookie Brooke Gibbons totaled 22 assists along with 10 digs. Defensively, senior Rachel McGahie and sophomore Nikki Mathewson finished with 15 and 13 digs, respectively.

Colby surged out to the initial nine points of the night and never looked back in the opening frame. UNE assumed an 8-4 cushion in the 2nd set, but the Mules went on a 19-3 run to swing the advantage back in their favor.

In the 3rd, an early 4-0 lead for the visitors was erased by a 9-1 spurt from the Nor’easters, and Big Blue continued to pull away, cutting the overall margin in half (2-1). What proved to be the final stanza saw eight ties and five lead changes in the first 25 points, until an ace by Serhan put Colby in front for good (13-12), en route to a seven-point decision.

The Mules return home to open up NESCAC play on Friday against Tufts University. UNE is off until next Wednesday when it begins CCC action with a road trip to Eastern Nazarene College.