NAPLES—Kaitlyn Plummer led the attack – Plummer had a hat trick, not to mention an assist – as Lake Region battered visiting G-NG to the tune of 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 10.

Tiffany Ha added the Patriots’ lone goal vs. the Lakers.

“Running onto the ball,” Lake Region head coach Pauline Webb began, asked what her girls did right in the contest. “Which is one of the things that we’ve talked about: We’ve got to win every ball that’s rolling on the field – every 50-50 ball. Just being aggressive and wanting the ball.”

Victorica Ross wasted no time establishing an early LRHS lead, putting the first of her girls’ half-dozen notches past G-NG keeper Mackenzie Baston just 17 seconds into the outing.

Plummer then tallied back-to-back strikes at 17:06 and 12:50, stealing much of whatever wind remained in the Patriots’ sails. Sadie Terrell (assisted by Plummer) piled on the Lakers’ fourth of the day at 10:43, before the team quieted down for a while.

4-0 at the break.

“I really think today…was totally a team effort,” Webb said, asked if she wanted to highlight any of her girls’ individual efforts. “Everyone played their positions well; I’m really happy.”

Plummer made it 5-0 at 26:16 of the downhill half, scoring on a hard little chop in close at the right side of Baston’s cage.

To be sure, Baston played a respectable game, given how much pressure she faced; she turned in nice kick saves at 24:35 and 24:10, for example. But pressure wins out most of the time, and Lake Region’s attack was the far weightier of the two that day.

“We’re not taking anybody lightly,” Webb said, asked about her expectations for G-NG, headed into the bout. “Every game is a big game. Like I told the girls: ‘What happens at the beginning of the season determines where we play at the end of the season.’ You never know who’s going to show up to play, and we need to be ready for anybody.”

The Patriots did sometimes snap LRHS’s offensive array; when the Patriots managed to do that, they occasionally pushed upfield for a foray or a stretch on the attack themselves. But the Lakers’ defense, including netminder Kelsey Gerry, mostly thwarted G-NG’s every attempt.

At 20:35, Laker Chantale Symonds inserted on a corner; she then cut in front of the net while the ball pingponged a few times out front. When it pingponged her way again – thanks to Delaney Meserve – Symonds batted it past Baston for 6-0.

Webb expressed satisfaction with her girls’ work on corner opportunities: “I think they were playing relaxed,” she said, “and keeping their eye on the ball, and sweeps – just good connections. Yeah, this was one of our best.”

The Patriots weren’t about to let themselves get skunked, though, and on one of their drives upfield, Ha smashed the team’s single goal home from high in the zone.

After that, G-NG did perhaps their best job of the day, fighting in the midfield. Trizzie Ha looked especially fiery and determined there, and deserves props for her efforts. But in the end, LRHS owned the W.

The victory bumped Lake Region to 2-0 on the year; the team traveled to Freeport for a matchup just a day later, winning 1-0. Meanwhile, G-NG dropped to 1-1. They next battled Cape Elizabeth at home, a bout from which they emerged the victors 2-1. That game also took place on Wednesday the 11th.

3-0 is a hot start for the Lakers, who last year began far less auspiciously at 0-5.

“That was one of our keys this year,” Webb said; “We’ve got to start with some Ws. We’ve got to start aggressive, with some intensity.”

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