Frostburg, MD – On Sunday, the Golden Eagles faced the Frostburg State Bobcats for a chance to win the Mountain East Conference title for the first time in program history. The Bobcats had gotten the better of Charleston in their last two matchups, winning both games by a combined score of 34-12.
The Basics
Location: Bobcat Stadium
Score: UC 7, FSU 13
Records: UC 10-8, FSU 13-5
How It Happened
With a championship title on the line for the first time, Charleston had brought everything they had to the Old Line State. Madison Partridge found the first goal of the match with just over three minutes played in the first to take the early 1-0 advantage. The Bobcats would match and raise Charleston's goals with back-to-back scores from Kerri Hayes and Emily Lamoreaux with five minutes left in the quarter for the 2-1 lead. At the 2:41 mark, sophomore Darby Stolz would knot the game up at 2-2 with an unassisted goal in the late stages of the quarter.
In the second period, the Golden Eagles began firing on all cylinders as they would go on to score three unanswered goals from Gianni Blundell and a pair from Partridge to take a 5-2 lead over Frostburg State. The reigning MEC champions didn't back down in any way and answered back with two goals just before the end of the half to cut the lead to a goal, but Charleston held the 5-4 lead heading into the locker room.
Frostburg State kicked things into high gear following the halftime break and scored eight consecutive goals. Julia Badolato led the way scoring three of the eight goals buried in Charleston's net. Charleston would only manage three shots in the third quarter with just one shot on goal, whereas the Bobcats fired off nine shots with seven of them on frame. Draw controls had played a large factor in the third period as well, with Frostburg State winning five of the six in the quarter. Madison Partridge ended the Charleston drought in the fourth period with 5:55 remaining, but the Bobcats had created a mountain too high to climb with little time remaining. The Bobcats took the 13-7 victory to defend their title as the Mountain East Conference Champions.