Husson blanks Terriers Goodman saves day for Braves

BANGOR – Husson College sophomore goalie Matt Goodman made a pivotal save and he was rewarded with an important insurance goal.

Goodman robbed Thomas College’s Ryan Buttice with 11 minutes remaining and, 1:42 later, junior striker Dave Richard scored Husson’s second goal as the Braves posted a 3-0 Sunrise Conference victory over the Terriers Wednesday.

Husson, which received the game-winning goal from senior midfielder Lee Bennett 2:38 into the second half, is now 3-4 overall and 2-1 in Sunrise Conference play while Thomas slipped to 3-5-1, 1-1-1-.

Buttice twice ran through the penalty area unmarked in a two-minute span and had opportunities to equalize off Jeremy Stanford throw-ins from the right sideline.

On the first one, his power header sailed high and wide.

The second one was a glancing header labeled for the lower far corner that required Goodman to make his crucial save.

“On the first one, I thought there was a defender with me so I anticipated it and tried to head it near post,” said Buttice. “On the second one, I flicked it far post but the goalie had it covered. He made a great save.”

Goodman said “I followed the flight of the ball until it got to the six. Then I watched the guy [Buttice] and I knew where the ball was going. Most strikers head the ball down so I covered the angle and pinned the ball to the ground [so there wouldn’t be a rebound].”

A few moments later, Aaron Cowan fed Richard making a run down the left flank.

He broke in alone on Thomas senior goalie Ryan Conley and rifled an eight-yarder off the goalie’s right hand into the near side corner.

“Nobody was making a run to the far post and Coach [Scott Warman] has been telling us to shoot. So I figured, at worst, we’d get a rebound out of it,” said Richard, who capped the scoring with a tap-in off a Bennett pass with 19.7 seconds left.

Bennett’s game-opening goal was set up by Matt Bell’s diagonal pass to the left side.

“One of their players got a piece of it, but it bounced off my hip and I ran through the ball,” said Bennett, who broke free. “I saw the goalie off his line so I lobbed it over him. I hit it with the outside of my left foot and hoped it would tail back.”

The quicker Braves outshot the hard-working Terriers 22-18 and played thorough team defense for most of the game.

Ellsworth’s Conley, who finished with eight saves, came up with a gem in the first half as he scrambled across to grab Richard’s half-volley from in close.

Goodman was tested early in the second half when Rick Kelley one-touched an Adam Caron cross from eight yards out.

Goodman corralled it against his chest for one of his six saves.

Husson women 3, Thomas 0

At Bangor, Beatriz DeYaza and Kristin Pelletier each notched a goal plus an assist to power the Braves.

Deidra Ham tallied a goal and Melissa Achorn an assist for 4-6 Husson. Meg Taylor and Ashley Robar combined to stop all three shots they faced.

Jessie Craft made nine saves against 21 shots for the 2-4-1 Terriers.