BRUNSWICK — Coming off a 1-0 defeat to the Mt. Ararat field hockey squad earlier in the week that halted a four-game win streak, Oxford Hills took to the field on Thursday to square off with Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference rival Brunswick to get back to its winning ways.
Brooke Carson drilled a shot to the back of the cage 14 minutes into the contest and the Vikings added two more, coming way with a 3-0 victory over the Dragons.
Oxford Hills improved to 7-3, while the Dragons evened their record, falling to 5-5.
“I feel like we were doing a lot of things well. We had possession quite a bit, and the goals scored doesn’t always tell the story of the game,” Brunswick coach Carrie Sullivan said. “We knew they had a big upset against Mt. Blue, but everyone else they had played even. We had high hopes coming in and didn’t feel like too much of an underdog, so we’re disappointed in the score, but we’ll take everything we learned from today and use it.”
Neither team mustered up much offense in the opening minutes as most of the action was played between the 25-yard lines.
At 16:25, Carson grabbed a pass from Allison Slicer off a Viking penalty corner and struck it in for the goal.
“It was very important to get that first goal. My job is to make sure to get a tip on it before it goes in if it starts outside the circle,” Carson said. “So, if I stop it and have a chance to hit it, that’s what I do. No one was on me, so I shot it.
“I think the power kind of came from anger. Because I don’t think we expected such a physical match, that’s probably one of the most physical games we’ve played this year.”
The Brunswick defense of Delia Braillard, Caroline White and Kristen Hummer kept the Vikings off the board until Sierra Carson scored off a Kate Bowen helper with less than three minutes remaining in the half to take a 2-0 lead into the break.
Oxford Hills held the advantages in shots, 3-1, and in penalty corners, 4-3.
Second frame
Early in the second half, the Dragons created action in the circle, drawing a pair of penalty corners, but were unable to capitalize as the Viking defense held their ground.
“They have some great players that have really good ball movement and they had intensity throughout the whole game, they had a couple of opportunities, but were unable to get one in,” Oxford Hills coach Cindy Goddard said.
Sullivan was happier with the second-half play of the Dragons.
“We had trouble getting it down in the circle, but in the second half I think we did a lot better with that,” she said. “We’d get the ball down in the circle for a little while, then they would go up the field and score.”
The final goal came at 19:35 when Megan Godbout drove home the final score with a shot from just inside the circle. Lauren Merrill had the assist.
“We have players who can score, Brooke Carson has been one of our major scorers, but we don’t have just one scorer as we try to spread it around, it’s all about finishing,” Goddard said.
For Brunswick, the 3-0 score didn’t indicate how the players felt they played.
“We love the sport so much, so we try to play the best that we can. Our team is super strong at our passing game and we try hard to communicate and pass to a person,” Brunswick senior Grace Casey said. “We really dominated the second half but were unable to get a shot in. We stayed positive and kept playing our game. It was a rough game, a few knocked knees and elbows, it was a fierce second half.”
Senior Mallory Palmer credited the Viking defense.
“Their defense did a really good job of blocking the areas where we were trying to come in. They definitely knew where our strong side was and where our passes were going to go, so I think they did a really good job blocking them,” Palmer said. “I think that we really work together as a team. We stayed level–headed and kept our heads up even though we were losing. Sometimes the score doesn’t necessarily show how well you did in the game.”
Viking keeper Madi Day and Liberty Krauss of Brunswick each made three saves.
Oxford Hills is slated to play Leavitt on Tuesday, while the Dragons travel to Brewer to take on the Witches Saturday at 11 a.m.
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