FARMINGTON — It hadn’t happened in Hannah Minns’ three years at Mt. Blue, in Hannah LeClair’s four or, for that matter, in Jody Harmon’s five years as head coach.
That changed Tuesday when the Mt.Blue field hockey team downed Messalonskee 4-2 for the first time in recent memory.
“This is a huge deal,” said Minns, who scored three goals. “We came into it knowing we really wanted it and we finally got it.”
The Cougars (2-0-1) never trailed. Minns scored twice in the first half, and she and sophomore Adelle Foss added second-half goals. Lydia Dexter and Autumn Littlefield scored for the Eagles (1-2-0).
“I’m just so excited for the team,” LeClair said. “It’s a great feeling. We just didn’t give up. We started out strong, we ended strong.”
LeClair, along with Leah St. Laurent and Rebecca Harmon, helped the Cougars control play in midfield for most of the game.
“It was great,” Harmon said of the team’s midfield play. “And our passing. We’ve been working on passing and communicating and getting the ball up the field, working smarter not harder.”
Minns scored her first goal with just over 11 minutes left in the first half with a quick shot right in front of Eagles goalie Hannah Pinney (10 saves). Freshman Molly Harmon assisted.
Messalonskee coach Katie McLaughlin called timeout and her team responded.
“We needed to work harder,” McLaughlin said.
Dexter’s reverse stick shot from the top of the circle deflected off a defender and bounced high into the cage past goalie Erika McArthur (seven saves) to make it 1-1. The Eagles didn’t sustain their energy boost, though, and the Cougars took a 2-1 lead into the half when Minns scored on a reverse stick shot with 44 seconds left.
“Today Mt. Blue outworked us by far,” McLaughlin said. “You can’t always win with finesse. You have to get down low and outwork the other team. We’re a very young starting lineup. I think we have a lot of coming together to do.”
Minns made it 3-1 early in the second half with her third goal of the game and sixth of the season. This came on another reverse stick shot from about 15 yards out.
“That has been my strongest shot for a while,” Minns said. “I started practicing it in middle school and I’ve been doing it over and over again. I’m very confident in my reverse shot.”
Foss made it 3-1 with 12 minutes gone in the half when she drilled home a pass from LeClair. Littlefield wrapped up the scoring with a hard shot from 15 yards away that rattled off the back of the cage.
“They’ve worked so hard,” Harmon said. “Everyone always told me it’s going to take five years to rebuild a team, so this is our fifth year and we’re done. They’ve worked really hard and it’s starting to all come together.”
The Cougars will try to overcome another nemesis when they play against defending Class A state champion Skowhegan on Thursday.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
