After each team scored once within the first five minutes Monday, the Scarborough and Portland field hockey squads went back and forth across the turf at Fitzpatrick Stadium with neither able to break the tie.
That is, until Red Storm forward Jess Schoppee – like a stick-wielding David Ortiz – stepped up in the clutch to win the game with just 12 seconds remaining in regulation. The 2-1 victory was Scarborough’s eighth of the year (8-4-0), surpassing their previous high of seven last season.
Schoppee also scored the game-winner three days earlier, lifting her team over McAuley in double overtime.
“Jess Schoppee has been with me for four years at the varsity level, and she comes up with those big plays at key times,” said coach Kerry Mariello. “She’s in the right place at the right time.”
With two games left in the regular season, the win solidified the Red Storm’s hold on the sixth spot in the Heal point standings, with the top 11 teams advancing to the playoffs. There’s even a chance of reaching one of the top five places, which receive first round byes.
“We’re a really good team,” Scarborough forward Jessica Baker said. “We have the potential to go all the way in the playoffs.”
Baker put in her team’s first goal, five minutes into the game and less than two minutes after Bulldogs forward Laura Greenstein started the scoring.
“I was in front of the goal and I got a pass from the right wing, from Sarah Bonenfant,” said Baker.
For the next 55 minutes, play moved back and forth, with each team controlling the action for a while and both goalkeepers turning away chances. Red Storm keeper Andrea Shryock totaled 18 saves in the game, while Portland’s Maja Reinhartsen made 17 stops.
As time wound down, the Bulldogs had some of the best scoring chances that either side saw all day. The ball was loose in front of the Scarborough goal with under two minutes on the clock, and the hosts desperately tried to knock it in, but Shryock and her teammates held strong.
“The defense came up big and they’ve been doing that all year,” said Mariello.
The play then shifted to the other end, and when the ball came loose out front, the Red Storm capitalized.
“The ball came in from the side and we were all just going for it,” Schoppee said. “I swept it and got it in the goal.”
And then time expired.
“It’s very frustrating to lose that way,” said Portland (3-7-2) coach Beth Arsenault. “It’s a matter of a bounce, but it wasn’t because they were lucky. They were in the right position.”
Scarborough’s girls have now taken three in a row, with winnable games coming up Saturday at Thornton Academy (3-9-0) and Monday at Windham (4-7-1). The Red Storm, who lost by one goal to top team Gorham (10-1-0) last week, may enter the post-season on a hot streak.
“This season is just about which way the ball bounces,” Mariello said, “and the attitude the girls have.”
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