ORONO — Hana Davis scored the tying goal early in the second half and Poppy Lambert got the winner on a rebound early in the fourth quarter as Maine advanced to the championship game of the America East field hockey tournament with a 2-1 victory Friday afternoon against California.
Maine (14-6), the No. 1 seed and tournament host, will play for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament on Sunday against third-seeded Albany, which beat No. 2 Monmouth, 1-0. The Black Bears have never won the conference title.
MEN’S HOCKEY
UCONN 4, MAINE 3: Jachym Kondelik scored a power-play goal at 12:43 of the third period and the Huskies (4-3) held on to beat the Black Bears (0-5-1) in Orono.
Ryan Tverberg had two goals and an assist for UConn, Vladislav Firstov added a goal and an assist and Darion Hanson made 27 saves in net.
Jakub Sirota and Grant Herbert scored for Maine, with Adam Dawe and Keenan Suthers assisting on both goals. Matthew Thiessen made 32 saves.
HOBART 6, SOUTHERN MAINE 1: The Statesmen (3-0) broke open a scoreless game with three goals in the last nine minutes of the second period as USM lost its season opener in Gorham.
Bobby Kinsey scored for USM in the third period.
U. OF NEW ENGLAND 7, NICHOLS 2: Daniel Winslow’s hat trick helped the Nor’easters (1-0) beat the Bison (1-1) in Burrillville, Rhode Island.
Austin Morgan and Tyler Seltenreich each had a goal and an assist for UNE. Aaron Aragon and Alex Sheehy added goals, while Billy Girard IV turned away 38 shots in net.
Quinn McCarthy and Dylan McMahon scored for Nichols, and goalie Korbinian Lutz had 39 saves.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
SOUTHERN MAINE 4, WILLIAM SMITH 1: Rylie Binette broke a 1-1 tie 22 seconds into the third period, and Shannon Colbert had a goal and two assists as the Huskies (2-1) beat the Herons (1-2) in Geneva, New York.
Madelyn McLeish and Shannon Douglass also scored for USM, and Haley McKim made 33 saves.
U. OF NEW ENGLAND 3, NICHOLS 2: The Nor’easters scored a pair of third-period to edge over the Bison in Biddeford.
Goals by Bella Crugnale and Carolyn Curley’s power play goal put UNE up 2-0. McKenna Remillard also scored with Meghan Hamilton assisting, while Delanie Corcoran stopped 28 shots in goal.
Nichols got goals from Kaci Johnson and Jessica Gossas-Moberg. Goalie Julia Carroll made 22 saves.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
THOMAS 82, SOUTHERN MAINE 80: The Terriers held a 53-36 scoring advantage in the second half and rallied to beat the Huskies in Waterville in the season opener for both teams.
Lokiron Anda scored 20 points for Thomas while Sawyer Deprey had 14 points and four rebounds.
Jacobe Thomas led USM with 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting. Cody Hawes added 18 and three rebounds.
FOOTBALL
CONFERENCE USA announced that it will add Liberty, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State and Sam Houston State in 2023 as the league tries to replenish its ranks after having nine schools announce plans to leave in the last month.
C-USA has lost six members to the American Athletic Conference and three to the Sun Belt Conference, leaving only five schools that have not announced plans to exit the league. The NCAA requires Football Bowl Subdivision leagues to have at least eight teams.
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