Unity women slip past Mustangs in closing minutes

UNITY, ME (CMCC) - The Central Maine Lady Mustangs hit the road on Friday heading up to Unity College for a non-conference game against the Rams. The Mustangs, coming off a three-game losing streak were looking to put the train back on the tracks with a solid performance. This game was typical of how these two teams have played each other over the last two seasons, an even matchup with both teams moving the ball well up and down the field trading shots on their keepers with a fair amount of physical play from both sides in the middle of the field.   

The Rams would end up on the scoreboard first on a goal by Nicole Robitaille, who penetrated the Mustang defense just over midway through the first half. The Mustangs, with a slight advantage on shots went into halftime at a 1-0 deficit.  

The second half continued in similar fashion, a hard-fought battle for control of the ball at midfield with both teams getting some chances at each other's net. Midway through the second half, Mustang midfielder Megan Duval (Jay, ME) collected the ball and drove it up the right side putting a perfect pass through the Ram defense to find the feet of Samantha Belardo (Russell, MA) who blasted a shot over the head of the Unity goalkeeper to level the score at 1-1.   

The game would continue with both teams looking for an advantage until the final two minutes when the Mustangs had trouble clearing the ball out of their defensive third, the only time in the game when they struggled with that and Ram forward Jordan Baker netted the game winner for Unity in the closing minutes to send Central Maine home with a 2-1 loss after a well played game by both sides.