BRUNSWICK — Mt. Ararat scored nine second-half goals to pull away for a 12-3 victory over Cony in Class B girls high school lacrosse at Bowdoin College on Monday.
The Eagles received goals from six different scorers as they improved to 2-5. The Rams fell to 3-3.
Erin Harty, Jessica Cloutier and Maddi Kinney each tallied three goals apiece in the victory for Mt. Ararat. Cony’s Kami Lambert, Sydney Avery and Faith Leathers-Pouliot each netted a goal for the visitors.
“It was a really good boost for us, Harty said about the 12-goal output. “We had some team talks to get motivated and thought about what we needed to work on as a team, the passing and the movement and spreading it out.”
After opening the season with a 13-4 win over Lawrence, the Eagles dropped their next five games, including a 14-0 loss to Lewiston in their previous game, so patience and not forcing the offense were key, according to Mt. Ararat coach Chad Kirk.
“Patience on offense is what made the difference for us today,” the coach said comparing it to the Lewiston defeat. “We needed to make sure we weren’t forcing our shots and spread our offense wide to open up opportunities.”
Harty opened the scoring at 17:44 off a Zoe McNally helper when she beat Rams keeper Sarah Cook-Wheeler.
The Eagles continued with what was the case throughout most of the first half with possession of the ball in their offensive zone. They nearly scored again when a Reese Turcotte shot hit the post, but minutes later, Olivia Cox found the back of the net at 9:20 for a 2-0 Eagles lead.
Despite only putting one offensive shot on goal in the opening half, Cony’s defense was strong, and Cook-Wheeler played big in the cage for the Rams, making eight first-half saves.
“The transition hurt us and we weren’t connecting on our passes, we couldn’t get any combinations going, but I was happy with our defensive effort in the first half,” Cony coach Gretchen Livingston said.
Cloutier scored the first of her three goals off a free position with 1:21 left on the clock to give the Eagles the three-goal lead after 25 minutes of play.
“I was happy with how we played in the first half,” Kirk said. “We don’t get to practice on this type of surface, it’s really fast, but our girls adjusted well.”
Mt. Ararat outshot the Rams, 11-1, with each team grabbing a pair of draws in the half.
Offensive surge
Cloutier and Harty each registered a goal in the first two minutes to start the second half, prompting a Cony timeout. After the timeout, McNally and Cloutier scored for the home team, pushing the Eagles lead to 7-0.
“To start the second half was a rough way to come out and unfortunately we didn’t answer coming out of the timeout,” Livingston said.
Lambert broke the ice for the Rams, getting the best of Eagles goalie Amanda Pickens to put Cony on the board at 19:32.
But Mt. Ararat answered with a pair of Kinney goals, the latter the product of some solid passing that began on the defensive end.
Amber Card picked up a loose ball, moved up the field before passing to Maddie Daulerio (three assists), where she found Kinney sprinting towards the net. Kinney’s shot to the lower left corner beat Cook-Wheeler and extended the Eagle lead to 9-1.
“That’s what we want to do, start our transition with solid passing and good shots,” Kirk said.
The Cony offense began to put on a little more pressure in the final 15 minutes, with Avery and Leathers-Pouliot pushing across scores.
“We just wanted to get the ball down on our end. It was at their end almost the entire first half, so to get the ball down on our end gave us some hope and drove us,” Lambert said. “Coach told us at halftime to work hard and pick up our effort.”
“We didn’t give up and we found a way to overcome our offensive restraining line out there. We talked about putting the defense of the first half together with the offense of the second part of the second half together and focus on that,” Livingston said. “They got the better of us today, they’re a good team. They have a tough schedule and their record doesn’t indicate how good they are because they play some tough teams.”
Pickens made the most of her time in net in the second half as Cony surged. The Rams managed seven second-half shots, with Pickens making four saves in the half to finish with seven.
“She did really well with the shots they shot at her today,” Harty said.
Pickens credited her defense in front of her, making her job easier.
“My defense is really good about making sure of our communication, and when they’re tracking it really helps out,” the freshman keeper said. “They talk with me and I talk with them and it usually works out most of the time.”
The win gives the Eagles some valuable heal points and the squad will take on Lawrence and Gardiner later this week, but for now, the Eagles will take in the win and build on it.
“It feels great, awesome. We’re a happy bunch today, this is what we look for and hopefully we can continue to win and move forward,” Pickens said.
Mt. Ararat 12, Cony 3
At Bowdoin College
Cony — 0 3 — 3
Mt. Ararat — 3 9 — 12
Goals — (Co) Kami Lambert, Sydney Avery, Faith Leathers-Pouliot, (MtA) Erin Harty 3, Jessica Cloutier 3, Maddi Kinney 3, Olivia Cox, Zoe McNally, Hannah Huston.
Assists — (MtA) Maddie Daulerio, Zoe McNally 2.
Shots on goal — Mt. Ararat 23, Cony 8.
Saves — (Co) Sarah Cook-Wheeler 11, (MtA) Amanda Pickens 5.
Draw controls — Cony 9, Mt. Ararat 8.
Records — Mt. Ararat 2-5, Cony 3-3.
Up next for the Eagles — Thursday against Lawrence at Messalonskee, 7 p.m.
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