BIDDEFORD — There was some nerves early for the University of New England women’s lacrosse team against the University of Southern Maine Saturday ”“ not that you could tell from the final score. The Nor’easters offense erupted midway through the first half, and didn’t stop until the final whistle of an 18-8 victory at the Big Blue Turf.

Southern Maine (2-8) took the lead just 1:01 into the game on a free position shot by Anh Nguyen. The Nor’easters (5-6) answered 38 seconds later on a Kimberly Gosselin goal, but the scoring stopped for a five-minute stretch until Jessica Deedon put UNE up 2-1.

It would be another nine minutes until the Nor’easters scored again, and it came after the Huskies tied the game up on another free position goal.

“I think we were a little anxious,” UNE head coach Sue Estabrook said of her team’s slow start on offense, noting that first-year USM head coach Ashley Dyer is a former assistant. “I think they just had some nervous energy, and just needed to calm it down and get it out of their systems. And once they did, we were able to connect and click and get it done.”

Get it done the Nor’easters did, as they reeled off seven straight goals ”“ including twice scoring three times in a one-minute span ”“ to take a 9-2 lead.

The offense was sparked early by Deedon, who scored two goals and assisted on another in the first half. Estabrook pointed toward Deedon’s work in transition as part of the team’s early spark.

The second half mirrored the first half for UNE, as the Nor’easters started off slow on scoring before rattling off a five-goal stretch, which upped their lead to 17-5.

The UNE offense was led by a combined 11 goals from Hannah Warren and Katie Cawley ”“ six for Warren, five for Cawley. Cawley was scoreless on the season heading into the game.

“They were the ones that were on,” said Estabrook. “They were marking up on Gina Newsome tight, and not letting her get the ball. And we have enough people that can get the ball in the net, so the other two took over.”

Newsome had a team-high 20 goals heading into the contest, but was held to one by the Huskies.

Still, the Nor’easters showed balance, with seven different players scoring as UNE had its second-highest scoring output of the season. The Nor’easters have scored double-digit goals in all five of their victories this season.

Complementing the offense was a three-headed attack in net for UNE. Courtney Kendall, Lauryn Huck and Maddy Ouellette combined to make 10 saves on 24 shots. Kendall made five saves against three goals allowed, including stopping 2 of 4 free position shots.

“That’s actually a strength of hers. I almost get excited when it’s a free position shot for her because I feel like it’s going to be a save every time,” Estabrook said of Kendall.

UNE has now won three of its last four games after starting the season 2-7. The Nor’easters get back into action when they host Endicott Wednesday.

“I think we’re starting to come into our own,” said Estabrook. “We had a rough patch against (Western New England). It woke us up a little, and hopefully we’re on a good run now.”

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.