BROCKTON, Mass. ---- In a hard fought game that saw all the scoring in the first half, NHTI escaped Brockton with a 3-2 victory against the Massasoit women's soccer team on Wednesday afternoon.
The Warriors (3-4-1) played right with undefeated NHTI (7-0-1) but came up just short in the end.
The game did not start off well for Massasoit as the Lynx struck first, as Erin Stearns rocketed a shot that was blocked by keeper Leah Kowlski (Whitman). Off the rebound, Stearns was able to finish to give NHTI an early lead in the sixth minute of action.
Five minutes later, the Warriors would get on the scoreboard. Alexandra Santos (Hanson) rifled a shot from outside the box, Massasoit's first shot of the day, that the NHTI keeper could not handle to even up the score. It marked the team-high ninth goal of the season for Santos.
The tie was short lived as just 36 seconds later Maura Hart bombed a deep shot as NHTI would retake the lead in the 11th minute.
The early action continued as NHTI built its lead to 3-1 when Sydney Clark collected a through ball pass from Hart and finished 18:33 into the first stanza.
The scoring pendelum swayed back in Massasoit's favor as the Warriors pulled within a single goal in the 39th minute, when Kaylee Khang (Brockton) took a pass from Mariah Teixeira (Brockton) and lofted a deep shot into the back of the net.
However, despite chances by both teams, neither would score in the second half as the Lynx stayed undefeated, claiming the one-goal victory.
NHTI had allowed only one goal all season entering Wednesday's match, and the Warriors broke a string of 12 consecutive games dating back to last year of the Lynx yielding one goal or less.
Kowlski finished with 10 saves in net for the Warriors and the Massasoit defense played a stellar second half against the high-powered Lynx offense.
NHTI finished with 26 shots, 13 coming on net, while Massasoit took 10 shots, four on frame.
Next up, the Warriors head to rival Holyoke CC for a match on Saturday at 1 PM.