Playing their third game in three days on the road, what should have been a tired and worn out Mustang team took on the Panthers of Albany College of Pharmacy & Health Science and played with an energy and pace that they haven't seen all season. But for the second game in a row, an early goal in the first few minutes put the Mustangs back on their heels right at the start. A misplayed goal kick by Mustang keeper Emma Johnson (Monmouth, ME) went right on the feet of forward Julia Roemer who took it to net and quickly put the Panthers up 1-0. A resilient Mustang team shook it off and began to play and the result was a fast paced end to end game by two teams looking to earn the 3 points for a conference win. After Johnson got knocked out of the game by a cleat to the face in a scramble in front of the Mustang net, Allie Annear (Auburn, ME) took over and went the distance. With four minutes left in the first half Albany scored their second goal off a direct kick just under the cross bar by Mayle Lupia-Eannace to send the Panthers into half-time with a 2-0 lead.
The Mustangs came out of half-time knowing their fitness level and pace would keep them in the game and less than five minutes into the second period, Madison Drew (Sabbatus, ME) converted an Alison Noniewicz corner kick for her second goal of the season to close the gap 2-1. It would take less than a minute for Albany to regain their two goal lead when Julia Roemer broke down the right side and tucked a shot in near post to put the Panthers up 3-1. In spite of the Mustangs energy and ability to keep play in their attacking third, Albany would increase their lead twenty minutes later on a goal by Shannon Donnelly, assisted by Roemer to put the Panthers up 4-1. Central Maine was not willing to concede the game and kept up the pace. At the 34 minute mark, Noniewicz curled a left-footed shot from outside the 18 into the Panter net to close the gap to 4-2. Again, the Panthers would counter with another Roemer near post goal to put the deficit back to 3 and put Albany up 5-2. Central Maine refused to go quietly, however, and with 8 minutes remaining, Lakyn Hink (Porter, ME) headed in a Noniewicz cross to close the gap again. The Mustangs did not run out of energy, but unfortunately they did run out of time and the game ended with a 5-3 Panther victory.
Coach Rodriguez commented, "I'm really proud of this team for their ability to handle back to back games and in this case three in a row. It's something we do regularly and we have learned to manage the lineup in a way that moves players around, conserves bodies, while increasing their fitness level. We intentionally play a difficult schedule with a lot of back to back road games and while it can be tough in the moment, we are always better by mid season as a result."
Central Maine is back in action at home on Saturday September 24 with another conference matchup against defending YSCC champion Paul Smiths College, kick off time is 11 am.
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