Theerathampitak hat trick leads Wells to first win

OLD ORCHARD BEACH — If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again.

That was the motto the Wells field hockey team used in abundance Tuesday afternoon as it beat Old Orchard Beach 5-0 in a matchup of Class B vs. Class C.

Old Orchard Beach shut Wells out in the first half despite the Warriors getting 19 shots on goal, but the second half was a different story as Wells exploded for five goals, earning its first win of the season.

“That first half was frustrating,” said Bee Theerathampitak. “They have a good goalie. She’s aggressive and comes out of the cage, but we knew if we kept pressing, we would get that goal.”

They did get that first goal as Theerathampitak blasted a shot from 16 yards out that went in on the lower left corner of the cage at the 22:59 mark in the second half, giving Wells a 1-0 lead.

The Warriors quickly made it 2-0 when Monica Link scorched a shot past OOB goalie Colleen Dyer at the 21:01 mark for a 2-0 lead.

Link scored again five minutes later, this time from close range when she gathered a rebound a few feet from Dyer and trickled the ball into the cage for a 3-0 lead.

“I think our offense did a good job keeping the ball in the circle,” said Wells head coach Karla Pattershall. “Our positioning was better in the second half.”

Theerathampitak scored her second goal of the game at the 13:09 mark when she followed in a ricochet, putting Wells up 4-0.

“Defensively, we were better in our circle in the first half, but collapsed in the second half,” Wells coach Carolyn Mehlman said. “We were leaving two and three Wells girls open, free to shoot on goal. Colleen Dyer (33 saves) was outstanding in the cage, but she couldn’t be everywhere. We couldn’t have asked for a better goalie performance.”

The game also saw Theerathampitak complete her first career hat trick, when she slammed in her third goal of the game at the 8:29 mark for the game’s final score.

“It feels really, really, really great,” Theerathampitak said about the hat trick. “It gets the adrenaline pumping and makes you want to go out to get more.”

Wells dominated the play in the first half, controlling the ball on its offensive end for nearly 26 minutes of the 30-minute half.

It outshot the Seagulls 19-1 in the half and had seven penalty corners to OOB’s one.

“Wells was more aggressive and quicker to the ball,” Mehlman said. “When we did get the ball, we made few attempts to evade them, and we had a few options for passing.”

Wells had struggled coming into the game losing its first four games by a combined scored of 20-1.

Tuesdays win was a needed boost, Theerathampitak said.

“It’s just nice to have what we do in practice finally carry over into a game,” she said. “We’ve been working hard and we’ve been really hungry for a win and we were ready to get it. Hopefully this can carry over.”

Old Orchard Beach dropped to 1-3.

Note: The Seagulls’ game against North Yarmouth Academy scheduled for this Saturday has been postponed until Sept. 29.

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