UMaine trips up Hartford Phillips helps Bears advance to semifinal

HARTFORD, Conn. – University of Maine senior goalkeeper Jasmine Phillips said she couldn’t recall taking a penalty kick “since my early high school days.”

But Phillips converted the clinching penalty kick Thursday night after making an earlier save as fifth seed Maine went five-for-five in the penalty kick shootout to oust No. 4 Hartford in their America East quarterfinal.

The Hawks converted four PKs.

The teams were tied 1-1 after regulation and two 10-minute sudden-death overtimes.

“It was nerve-wracking at the time but it felt great afterward,” said Phillips. “I put it to the goalie’s left.”

Phillips had saved Brittany Black’s PK by diving to her left.

“I thought that was where she was going to put it so I went with it,” said Phillips.

The game goes as a tie so Maine is now 6-5-7 entering Sunday’s 1 p.m. semifinal at top-seeded Boston University (13-5-1). Hartford ended at 8-5-5.

Kim Stephenson, Veronique Fleury, Sady Tobin and Anjelica Hodgson converted their penalty kicks before Phillips decided it. Lauren Aldred, Becky Flowers, Laura Guigli and Mary Beth Hamilton scored for Hartford.

Kellie Leyland one-timed an Aldred header off a Kacey Busque corner to open the scoring in the first half but Maine freshman Carolyne Nellis tied it in the 50th minute when she toe-poked the ball past Hartford goalkeeper Lauren Brodeur after Brodeur dropped a Christine LaBelle cross as the result of a collision.

Maine is now 5-1 in playoff games decided by penalty kick shootouts.

“I was confident going into the penalty kicks because we have the best goalkeeper in the country,” said Maine coach Scott Atherley. “This was a really big win for us. It was a collective effort.”