GORHAM — Emerson Homa has only been playing field hockey for two years. It appears the Gorham High senior has gotten the hang of it quickly.
Homa scored two goals and added two assists, and the Rams defeated Sanford, 4-1, on Wednesday to improve to 7-1 for the season.
Sanford fell to 2-4.
“We knew they were going to come out strong, and we kind of used our grass against them,” said Homa, who has 10 goals and three assists this season. “We’ve been working on a lot of stuff in practice. … We have our ends, and we know which end we like to score on.”
Gorham also got goals from Reece Leclerc and Brooke Farquhar. Hannah Bickford, who battled talented center midfield counterpart Audrey Payeur up and down the field, chipped in with two assists.
“This is our first night game at home, so that boosted our energy a little bit,” Bickford said. “We’re just connecting more this year. We see each other and we know exactly where each other are, our communication is there.”
Sanford got a goal from Sadie Sevigny that made it 3-1 in the third quarter. Despite the final score, the turf-based Spartans competed with the Rams on their home grass, playing to an even 6-6 tally in corners.
“We knew we were coming up against a pretty tough opponent, and our goal the whole time was to get out and compete,” Sanford Coach Marti Kane said. “The result wasn’t what we were looking for, but I think we’re making steps in a positive direction.”
Gorham, though, got the upper hand early. In the first quarter, Homa sent the ball in to Leclerc, who stopped it and fired a shot inside the right side of the goal. Early in the second quarter, Bickford took a shot that deflected over to Homa, whose shot from the right side slid in for a 2-0 lead.
Homa continued to play a central role in the Rams’ attack. With four minutes left in the second quarter, Annabelle Collier took the insert on a corner and passed over to Bickford, whose shot was stopped, but the ball again found its way to Homa for a goal on the rebound.
Gorham’s fourth goal, with 8:15 to play in the fourth, came when Homa took the ball all the way into the circle before passing over to Farquhar.
Homa, a standout ice hockey player, said she’s felt more comfortable this year than she did in her debut season last fall.
“I just do whatever everyone says. I use my speed and I look for the open person, and it works out good, normally,” she said. “This year, I’ve really hit my confidence point. Last year, I was very hesitant on everything.”
Gorham Coach Becky Manson said Homa has helped spark an offense that’s become one of the SMAA’s best.
“Last year, she did a really good job for us. She came off the bench, (so) I knew she had it in her,” Manson said. “But this year, she’s turned it to the next level.”
Sanford scored on a corner with 1:30 left in the third. Payeur took a shot from the top of the circle that was slowed, and Sevigny pounced on the ball and rattled it home.
“We’re happy with the way we played,” said Kane, who got nine saves from Megan Sheppard, “but we know we need to build on it and we need to get more competitive every game if we’re going to be a competitive team in the league.”
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