Box Score

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Senior Taylor McSherry scored on a breakaway with 2:01 remaining to give No. 5 Gordon College a 1-0 win over No. 4 University of New England in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship quarterfinal-round game played in cold and rainy conditions Saturday afternoon (Nov. 1) at Barbara J. Hazard Field.

The Fighting Scots (13-6-0) advance to Tuesday's semifinal round and will face top-seeded Roger Williams University, a 4-0 winner over Nichols College. UNE (11-4-2) will await word on a potential bid to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England Championship. Pairings for that tournament will be announced Monday, Nov. 10.

The Nor'easters had carried play the majority of the match until Gordon struck late. With UNE applying pressure in the Fighting Scots' defensive end, junior Shelby Palafox cleared the ball to McSherry in front of the midfield line, and the senior broke in alone on the counter before lifting a high shot over the head of UNE sophomore goalkeeper Brielle Robinson, who had come off her line to try and thwart the breakaway.

Big Blue pushed all of its players forward the rest of the way in an attempt to send the game to overtime, but the Nor'easters were unable to get a quality scoring opportunity before the horn sounded.

UNE's best scoring bid of the match had come in the 78th minute. Senior Margaret Palmer volleyed a cross from classmate Lindsey Monaco that appeared headed into the net, but Gordon junior Kaitlyn Hawn blocked the ball away just before it crossed the goal line.

For the match, the Nor'easters outshot Gordon, 17-5, with just two of the Fighting Scots' shots coming on-frame. Junior keeper McKenzie Dion came up with nine stops for the winners, while Robinson had just one -- a brilliant deflection of a drive by Gordon junior Jamie Breton early in the second half.