Just 40 seconds into the match, UNE defender Tori Stocks went down with a knee injury which forced coach Sue Estabrook to make immediate changes to her lineup.
“My second string goalie was playing defense … so yes, we had to make adjustments,” said Estabrook. “We are down about three or four (starters) so we are just trying to stay positive. It’s out of our control, so we are just trying to make adjustments and do what we can do.”
Although the Nor’easters surged in the opening half, the first 10 minutes were quiet for both clubs.
Korinne Bohunsky put UNE on the board early, scoring a high shot goal just 4:57 into the contest. The ensuing minutes were slow, with neither team establishing control of tempo.
UNE’s Katie Cawley tacked on another score at the 19:10 mark to give the Nor’easters a two-goal lead.
The offenses then kicked into gear as Curry captain Malorie Knowlton responded with a goal less than a minute later to put the Colonels on the board.
Just 1:27 later, the Nor’easters got a goal from Olivia Carpenter, followed by another goal at the 11:29 mark from Nicole Carvalho off a pass from Kimberly Gosselin.
Less than two minutes later, Carpenter scored her second goal to put UNE up 5-1 late in the first half. Less than two minutes later, Carpenter also scoffed her second to give the Nor’easters a commanding 6-1 lead.
Curry’s Abby Carnevale scored with 3:42 remaining in the half to bring the score to 6-2 in favor of UNE going into the half.
The Colonels drew first blood in the second half, scoring 3:24 into the period thanks to a shot from Lauren Carroll.
UNE responded just 1:06 later when Carvalho scored her third goal to make the score 7-3. Less than five minutes after, UNE received two more scores, one from Bohunsky and the other from Brooke Kelleher to bring the score to 9-3.
Knowlton did not allow UNE to get comfortable as she scored three goals in the final 20 minutes, however thanks to an insurance goal from Paige St. George, UNE held off Curry for the 10-6 win.
Estabrook credited her team’s defensive performance in the win.
“We were just trying to play our game, I think at times we took away (Curry’s) energy a bit. When we calm down and play our defense it’s high pressure,” said Estabrook.
Estabrook was also impressed by goalie Courtney Kendall’s performance.
“Courtney made a lot of great saves today and she has been great for us all year. We have two great senior goalies so our freshman goalie hasn’t seen the field much but she is coming along fabulously,” said Estabrook.
Considering the youth of her squad, Estabrook hopes to see her team continue to improve moving forward.
“We are down players, we have a short bench. We are young so they are just so into learning. We need players to keep stepping up … we should be getting at least one player back soon so that will be great to see,” said Estabrook.
— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at sports@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.
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