WATERVILLE — Nothing was going to stop the Skowhegan field hockey team from advancing in the Class A North playoffs.
Not a little rain, and certainly not the Camden Windjammers.
Up 1-0 at halftime, the No. 1 River Hawks scored five goals in the third quarter to cruise past No. 8 Camden Hills 6-0 on Wednesday night at Bernatchez Field on the Thomas College campus.
Layla Conway scored three goals in nearly a seven-minute span in the third quarter to power Skowhegan (15-0). Sydalia Savage scored two goals, while Laney LeBlanc added another for the River Hawks.
“It’s amazing,” said Conway, a junior. “We’re just one step closer (to states).”
Camden Hills finished 6-8-1.
The game was moved from Skowhegan to Thomas due to a hard-driving rain storm that hit the area Wednesday. Thanks to the turf surface of Bernatchez Field, play proved to be faster than usual.
“The rain was definitely a struggle,” Conway said. “The ball moves so much faster out there. But we just have to make sure we stay low and don’t fall.”
Skowhegan’s Paige Gilbert, left, passes the ball as Addie Kelly of Camden Hills defends during a Class A North field hockey quarterfinal game Wednesday at Thomas College in Waterville. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
The River Hawks had a 15-1 advantage in penalty corners, as well as a 17-0 shot advantage. They firmly kept the pressure on the Windjammers throughout the game. But a strong defensive effort from Camden Hills, led by freshman goalie Abigail Strout (11 saves) kept the score to 1-0 at halftime, the only blemish coming from a goal by Savage with 4:31 remaining in the second quarter.
“We’ve played Camden Hills two years in a row, and both years they just give us a big game,” Skowhegan head coach Paula Doughty said. “I knew that was going to happen and I really give them a lot of credit, to come up here and play us in the pouring rain. The first half, they gave us a go. In the second half, we got our second wind. But they’re doing a great job building that program.”
Skowhegan broke the scoring floodgates open in the third quarter. LeBlanc scored the first goal less than two minutes into the period, before Conway scored the next three goals to give Skowhegan a 5-0 lead. Savage added her second goal with two minutes left in the quarter for the final 6-0 score.
“We just talked (at halftime) about how we needed to come out with better intensity,” said LeBlanc, a junior. “Knowing that we needed to work as a unit, not just one person. Just working together as a team really, really helped.”
“We just started playing more as a team in the second half,” Conway said. “Our passing was on. We just kept pounding shots in the cage. Getting the rebounds, too, was very important to us.”
It’s the 14th shutout for the River Hawks, who’ve outscored opponents 96-2 this season.
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