LEWISTON — The Messalonskee girls lacrosse team weathered one Lewiston comeback and didn’t allow another in a 14-8 win in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference matchup Wednesday at Garcelon Field.
The Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead six minutes into the game with goals from Ally Turner, Lauren Pickett and Kaitlyn Smith.
The Blue Devils responded with three goals in two minutes, two second. Freshman Grace Dumond scored the first two.
“She’s definitely capable of getting a few goals and helping us get back in it,” Lewiston coach Brant Remington said.
Erin Lachance scored the third goal, tying the game at 3-3 with 15:23 remaining in the first half.
Turner, who has committed to play at Division I Wagner College, scored a pair of goals a minute apart to give Messalonskee a two-goal lead.
“I think we kind of got complacent,” Eagles coach Crystal Leavitt said. “So we had to get more aggressive. I encouraged aggressive — you know, go get the ball, we want the ball, possession. And I think they knew that, too.
“We don’t play night games that often, it was a different realm, and so we were just still trying to find our groove.”
After Lewiston’s Christine Chasse scored the first of her three goals, Pickett finished the first-half scoring with two more goals to make it 7-4 at the break.
“We were just really making sure to incorporate everyone and move the ball quickly, we didn’t want it to get stuck in anyone’s stick too long,” Turner said.
A goal by Messalonskee’s Smith was sandwiched by goals from Lewiston’s Dumond and Chasse, making the Eagles’ lead 8-6 with 18:41 remaining in the game.
The Eagles took complete control over the next 10 minutes, scoring four unanswered goals to essentially put the game away.
Along with a fast-moving offense, Messalonskee also surrounded first-time goalie Elizabeth Fulling with a congestive defense that didn’t give the Blue Devils many clear shots on goal.
Injuries forced Fulling to switch from playing defense for the JV team to goalie for the varsity team.
“Lizzy practiced an hour yesterday in net,” Leavitt said. “That was the first time she’s been in a varsity game, let alone in the net.”
Fulling made four saves.
Pickett scored a game-high five goals and had an assist for Messalonskee (5-2). Turner scored four goals and dished out three assists, Smith had three goals and an assist, Jenna Nash had a goal and an assist, and Katie Seekins scored a goal.
The Blue Devils had flashes of great play throughout the game, but Remington said their miscues mounted up and Messalonskee took advantage.
“Unforced errors,” Remington said. “We made so many mistakes today. We just gave them so many opportunities to get free-position shots and transition down the field; we dropped so many balls, threw the ball away.”
Dumond led Lewiston (4-3) with four goals and two assists. Chasse put up three goals and two assists, and Lachance had a goal and an assist.
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