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BURLINGTON, Vt. – Ashley McDonald scored her fourth goal of the season, but Vermont dropped its America East opener to Maine, 5-1, at Moulton Winder Field on Friday afternoon.
 
The Catamounts controlled play for much of the first half, as they held a 5-1 advantage over Maine in penalty corners. Their best scoring opportunity of the period came just over 10 minutes into the contest when Anne-Marie Farmer received a pass near the post and sent a shot just wide of the cage.

Maine was able to break through and tally the first goal of the afternoon with three minutes remaining in the half. Following a Vermont turnover, Danielle Aviani found Holly Stewart at the top of the circle, and Stewart fired a low shot to put the Black Bears up, 1-0.
 
Annabelle Hamilton and Marissa Shaw tallied a goal each early in the second half to extend Maine's lead to 3-0 before McDonald got the Catamounts on the board. Farmer sent a pass to McDonald in front of net, and the captain one-timed it past Maine goalie Emma Cochran to cut Vermont's deficit to 3-1.
 
Stewart and Aviani added insurance goals in the final four minutes and Maine's defense held off Vermont to secure the 5-1 win.
 
Cochran stopped three shots in goal for Maine to earn her third win of the season. Freshman Lena Benwood took the loss for UVM despite making seven saves.
 
The Black Bears improve to 4-6 overall and 1-0 in conference play following the victory, while Vermont falls to 0-10 on the year and 0-1 in America East.
 
UVM hosts Sacred Heart in a non-conference matchup on Sunday (Oct. 5) at 1 p.m. Live video from Moulton Winder Field will be available for free via CatamounTV.com.
 
NOTE: Check back later for CatamounTV video highlights of the game