GORHAM, Maine – Freshman Tayla Smedberg's goal in the 14th minute stood and the University of Southern Maine defeated Eastern Connecticut State University, 1-0,  in a Little East Conference field hockey game Saturday afternoon at Hannaford Field.

At right: Laura Chicorka

Hoping to duplicate last year's home victory over Southern Maine (4-3, 1-1 LEC) which stopped a six-match losing streak at the hands of the Huskies and extend a program-best winning streak to five matches, Eastern (4-2, 1-1 LEC) had the better of play in the first half before the hosts broke through for the only goal of the match and handed the visitors their first shutout of the season.

Southern Maine, a three-time LEC playoff finalist, was able to capitalize on a loose ball in front of the cage following a powerful driven shot from senior Peyton Dostie, last year's LEC Offensive Player-of-the-Year. Dostie's initial strike was saved by Eastern sophomore goalie Samantha Scavo (Redding), but Smedberg was in the right place at the right time to record the timely goal – the first of her career.

The loss on Southern Maine's field is Eastern's ninth in ten tries in the series, second straight by a 1-0 verdict.

The Warriors could have taken the lead in the eighth minute, but senior Marina Davidson cleared a ball off of the line for a defensive save.  Eastern junior Laura Chicorka (Enfield) also had a near goal, but sophomore goalkeeper Amanda Kasbohm made a diving stop for one of her six first-half saves in the 15th minute.  

The Warriors opened the second half with a flurry of penalty corners earning three consecutive attempts in the opening two minutes of the half, and six in the first ten, but they were unable to score. Eastern junior Hannah Keiser (Danbury) had a pair of near misses in the first ten minutes, including a bang-bang play off of a corner that sailed high of the net.

Eastern dominated possession in the first 17 minutes of the second half, before the Huskies rebounded with some offensive pressure of their own.  The Huskies' were awarded a penalty stroke following a corner in the 57th minute, but junior Allison Ward's attempt was turned away by Scavo, who lowered her goals-against average to 1.36.

The Warriors had a few solid chances in the closing minutes, including their 16th penalty corner of the game in the final minute, but Kasbohm again came up with the save on a Chicorka shot.  Kasbohm's 11th save of the game preserved the shutout and the Huskies killed the final seconds of the game to earn the win.

Scavo made ten saves as her save percentage jumped from .759 to .800.

 Eastern had a 17-14 advantage in shots and a 16-6 advantage in penalty corners.   

Eastern visits Babson Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., looking for its first win in nine outings all-time against the Beavers.