OAKLAND — It started as a stormy battle of the last two unbeaten teams in Class A North when the Skowhegan field hockey team took on Messalonskee under overcast skies and hard rain.
Sixty minutes later, the clouds parted, the sun came out, and it was the River Hawks walking off Veterans Field with a 6-0 win over the Eagles.
Skowhegan (9-0) put on the offensive pressure early and often on Messalonskee (6-1), scoring an three goals per half. Five different players tallied goals for the River Hawks, with junior Laney LeBlanc leading the group with two scores.
“We came into (the game) knowing that we had to work hard, go into it hard, have really good energy,” LeBlanc said. “Our word for the year is ‘urgency’ and I think that’s really helped us. We worked as a team to get this win.”
The win was also the eighth shutout of the season for Skowhegan, which has allowed just two goals so far.
“Messalonskee is always sound,” Skowhegan head coach Paula Doughty said. “Katie Brann is a super coach. I think we did what we needed to do to execute, to get the goals in today. But our goal is always a shutout, and I think our defense really stepped up today.”
Layla Conway put the River Hawks up less than two minutes into the game, slipping a shot past Messalonskee goalie Nealey Dillon for the 1-0 lead. Minutes later, Masyn Atwood poked a shot through in the middle of a scrum for the 2-0 lead.
A hard shot from sophomore Ellie Quinn in the second period lengthened the River Hawks’ lead to 3-0, where it remained entering halftime.
LeBlanc scored both of her goals in the third period.
Messalonskee goalie Nealey Dillon makes the initial save on a shot by Skowhegan’s Norie Tibbetts with a scoring rebound by teammate Masyn Atwood in a field hockey game Thursday in Oakland. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
“We work really hard in practice, practicing our corners, working ins and outs with each other,” LeBlanc said. “That’s been good for us offensively, and just having fast speed up the sideline, balance with the (midfielders), I think that’s really helped us out.”
Senior Samantha Thebarge added a goal late in the fourth period for the final 6-0 score.
Messalonskee fought throughout, and despite the score, Dillon played a strong game, turning away several scoring opportunities from the River Hawks.
“I’m really proud of how hard the girls fought, they played every last minute,” Brann said. “We had lots of different combinations, different positions, and they adapted pretty well. I couldn’t be happier with the effort.”
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