ORONO- The University of Maine women’s soccer team finished off a very successful three game homestand to open the season on Sunday afternoon, shutting out Bryant University 4-0 on a sunsplashed Mahaney Diamond in non-conference play.
Maine started off quickly dominating action, and got the only goal that was needed when Halle Rogers got to a ball in front of the Bryant goal off a corner kick and buried it into the back of the net to make it 1-0 at 9:23. Just 3:24 later, Abby Kraemer tried to breakaway for a shot on the Bulldogs goalkeeper and was tripped in the box resulting in a penalty kick. Kraemer buried that opportunity and the Black Bears took a 2-0 lead to halftime. The hosts got a break early in the second half as Bryant trying to block a shot on goal deflected the ball into their own net at 3:05 that made it 3-0, and Susannah Gaines finished the scoring off on assist from Birte Speck at 7:57.
Maine had a 12-5 shots advantage on goal, while the corner opportunities finished 4-4. Kira Kutzinski stopped all five shots in net for the Black Bears for her second shutout of the season so far. Selena Negron played the first half and Jessica Rinaldi the second half, and each had four saves on six shots for Bryant who falls to 1-3-0. The Bulldogs are out of the Northeast Conference (NEC). Maine is now 2-0-1 and hits the road for the first time on the season Wednesday night at 7 p.m., when they battle Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.
