CASTLETON, Vt. – The University of Maine at Farmington women’s soccer team’s bid to reach the North Atlantic Conference Tournament championship game came up one goal shy of the mark, as the Beavers dropped a 3-2 decision to Castleton State College Tuesday night at Spartan Stadium.

UMaine-Farmington finishes the season with a 9-7-3 mark, while Castleton State improves to 12-7-1. The Spartans advance to Saturday’s tournament title game against Colby-Sawyer College. Castleton State will be making its fifth consecutive NAC championship game appearance.

Castleton State’s Mallory Costello scored the first goal of the semifinal in the 11th minute of play. The forward collected the ball near the left corner of the 18-yard box, and lofted a shot into the side netting to put Castleton up 1-0.

Just 2:10 later, Castleton extended its lead. Dominique Valancius broke down the right flank and got off a ground-ball shot that squeaked between two Farmington players and into the left side of the net to put the Spartans ahead 2-0.

In the second half, UMF mounted a serious comeback, cutting the lead in half in the 61st minute. Midfielder Kayla Tuttle received a pass across the face of the goal from forward Ava Amador and one-touched it into the net.

Castleton regained a two-goal advantage in the 67th minute when Costello found Valancius in the box for a goal.

The Beavers continued battling and broke through again with just 1:02 left in the game. Amador finished off a half-volley from the six-yard line off a bouncing pass from Katie Clark. The forward’s tally made the score 3-2, but the Beavers’ assault ended there as Castleton held on for the final minute of play.

Binkowski finished with two saves in the game earning the win. UMaine-Farmington starter Beth Lebel made one save and allowed two goals in the first half, and was relieved by Amy Jones in the second half. Jones made a pair of saves and allowed one goal.

USM falls in Little East

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. — Senior Kathleen Landers snapped a 1-1 tie in the 59th minute of play and the third-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Corsairs went on to defeat the sixth-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies, 2-1, in a first-round game of the 2013 Little East Conference Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament played Tuesday afternoon at Cressy Field.

The win advanced the Corsairs into a Thursday night semifinal match at second-seeded Keene State College. The Corsairs have won their last two matches and are now 12-7-1 overall. The Huskies conclude their season 5-14-1 overall.

Landers got on to a cross from the end line by rookie Lucy Jensen and beat USM senior goalkeeper Katie Cobb for her fifth goal of the season.

The Corsairs kept the pressure on Cobb looking for an insurance marker, but Cobb was equal to the task making five of her nine saves over the final 30 minutes to keep the Huskies within striking distance.

In the opening half, the Corsairs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute as Jensen flicked in a cross delivered into the box by senior Jillian Van Ness. The goal was the fifth of the season for Jensen.

Southern Maine got a tying goal in the 56th minute as junior Nicole Bordeau scored her first career goal on a free kick from outside the 18-yard box on the left side.

UMD senior goalkeeper Michelle Miller earned her ninth win of the season recording six saves. Miller got some support in the 19th minute when a defensive teammate cleared away a shot by USM sophomore CC Pelletier.

UMass Dartmouth had a 27-11 edge in shots and a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Men’s basketball

CMCC 110, Unity 72

UNITY— Carrington Miller combined 17 points and 11 rebounds, and 11 Central Maine Community College men’s basketball scored at least six points Tuesday night in a 110-72 win over Unity.

Jalen Lincoln added 13 points for unbeaten CM (5-0). Shaun Hill chipped in 12 and Colton Bivinghouse 10 for the Mustangs. CM knocked down nine 3-pointers in the win.

Eric Kopacz led all scorers with 23 for Unity.

Women’s basketball

CM 91, Unity 27

UNITY — Freshman Gabby Foy went off for a career high 26 points, including 22 in the first half to lead Central Maine Community College to a 91-27 victory Tuesday over the Rams of Unity College.

In their first conference game of the year, the Mustangs used their transition game and pressure defense to limit the Rams to just six field goals in the first half.

The defense was led by Foy’s six steals, and another six thefts from Susie French, who also finished with 12 points. Overall, the Mustangs forced 51 turnovers.

Abriana Diana and Shaile Cole came off the bench to score 14 points and 10 points, respectively.

CM is back in action on Thursday when they travel to Bangor to take on Husson University in an exhibition game at 6:00pm. The Mustangs will host Navy Prep on Friday and will be honoring the 2012-13 YSCC Championship team as well as former Lady Mustang, Maggie Sabine.

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