Bangor, Maine – Husson Unviersity defeated Thomas College 5-0 in the first round of the North Atlantic Conference women's soccer championship.  Husson's Michelle Manning (Sr., Hampden, ME) paced the Eagles with three goals on the day.  With the win, the Eagles advance to the NAC semifinals on October 31 at U. Maine Farmington and improve their record to 13-5-1.  Thomas College ends their season with a 6-11 record.

The scoring started in the second minute when Husson's Megan Clement (Sr., Brunswick, ME) took a corner that Amanda Gifford (Jr., Lee, ME) headed toward Thomas keeper, Kate Thibodeau's (Fy., Woolwich , ME) right.  Thibodeau made the initial diving save and Manning tapped the rebound in the goal.  Alex Laniewski (Jr., Scarborough, ME) scored the second Husson goal off a break-away. 

With 4:40 left in the half, Thomas' Thibodeau made a key save to keep the score 2-0.  Caitlyn Butterfield (Sr., Gorham, ME) took a free kick from just outside the Thomas 18 yard box, passing a through ball to Gifford.  Thibodeau came off her line and smothered Gifford's shot.

Husson scored the game's third goal off an unassisted shot by Clement who dribbled through traffic and hit a far post goal.  Manning hit an upper shelf goal off another corner that was assisted by Kayleigh Piccirillo (So., Walpole, NH) and Katie McLaughlin (Jr., Winslow, ME).  Manning pushed the Husson lead to 5-0 when she tucked away a far post goal off a through ball from Clement.

Thibodeau performed admirably in goal, making 11 saves, many of them in grand fashion.  Husson's Rozlyn Petersen tallied three saves in her ninety minutes of play.

The Eagles outshot the Terriers by a margin of 24-3.

"We're really happy with the way we played. We had an ambition to be aggressive and composed, to spread out and connect passes and set up the final pass, and that's the way we played.  It's always nice when the team executes the plan," stated Head Coach Keith Bosley.

Husson will face U. Maine Farmington away on October 31 in the NAC semifinals. 

NAC Women's Soccer Championship

Semifinals - Sunday, October 31 at higher seeds

Johnson State/Green Mountain winner       at (1) Castleton  

(3)Husson                                                   at (2) Farmington