WELLS — Kristen Williams, the field hockey coach at Wells High, never knows what team she’s going to get. Sometimes the Warriors play with passion and fire, other times, not so much.
Even the players realize this.
“Up and down,” said senior forward Kaylar Masellas. “Like a heart scanner.”
Tuesday night was definitely an up game.
The Warriors defense played magnificently, throttling a potent Fryeburg Academy forward line, and Masellas scored the game’s only goal early in the first half for a 1-0 Wells victory which had a playoff-level intensity.
“It was very much like a playoff game,” said DeDe Frost, coach at Fryeburg. “I think both teams had that mentality, both battling for that third spot. It did kind of have that playoff field.”
Fryeburg (10-3) entered the game ranked third in Western Class B. Wells (8-4) was fourth, but will likely leapfrog the Raiders into third.
“It was a really important game,” said senior back Brittany O’Brian of Wells. “We want homefield advantage when we go into the playoffs. We take these games very seriously.”
O’Brian made one of the pivotal defensive plays late in the second half. She had just re-entered the game when the Raiders made a rush. A shot from the right got past Wells goalie Amber Ridgdon, but O’Brian was there behind her, clearing the ball from the goal outside of the circle.
“I saw that it was going to go across and I figured I better get back there,” said O’Brian. “You always want to get down to the weak side.”
The Warriors didn’t get many scoring chances either, but managed to put their best one in.
Awarded a free hit outside the circle – meaning even if the ball went into the net it would not count as a goal – the Warriors put in a low hard shot that bounced off the pads of Fryeburg goalie Brittany Fox, making it live. Then the scramble began.
Masellas was the first to it, and Fox blocked that shot. The ball rebounded to Jackie Gamache at the left post, but instead of shooting, she tapped it over to Masellas, who was uncovered at the right post.
“I tapped it off the goalie,” said Masellas. “Jackie tapped it back to me. I tapped it in. Pure luck.”
Maybe, but there was nothing lucky about the Warriors defense, which frustrated some good forwards. Time and again, O’Brian, Sarah Gilpatrick, Meghan Gilpatrick, Sarah Larmie and Brenna Trefethen cleared the ball away from in front of Ridgdon.
“I thought my forwards played really well,” said Fryeburg’s Frost. “Their defense did too.”
Fox would make two point-blank saves in the final seconds of the first half to keep the game close.
And as much as Fryeburg attacked in the second half, the Raiders couldn’t break through. They had one final penalty corner, with 50 seconds left, but the shot went wide.
“I’m always worried about how they’re going to come to play,” said Wells’ Williams. “But today they played a complete 60-minute game. A few little mental breakdowns, but I’m pleased overall.
“This was a very big win. And the girls knew it was important coming into the game.”
Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at: mlowe@pressherald.com
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