They may not be a championship game fixture, but there was no stopping the Marshwood High girls’ lacrosse team in the Class A state championship game Saturday.
The Hawks (13-3) won their first lacrosse title in their first lacrosse state final appearance, dominating in all facets of the game en route to a 13-5 victory against Messalonskee at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
“It feels like it was supposed to be like this, to round it out senior year,” said Marshwood midfielder Lindsey Poirier. “I wouldn’t want it any other way. I’m so proud of this team. They’ve all worked so hard.”
Poirier, who will play field hockey at Southern New Hampshire University, capped her high school career with seven goals and one assist after collecting seven goals with three assists in a 16-3 win against Scarborough in the Western Class A final.
Poirier had played in a field hockey title game as a freshman. She and fellow senior Korinne Bohunsky were in a lacrosse regional final later that school year but had not been back to vie for trophies until this spring.
“We were like, ‘We have three more years, this is great,’ and then sophomore year passes and junior year passes. This time we had one more year to do it, and we came here and were prepared,” Poirier said.
Marshwood led 8-1 at the half and stretched it to 12-1 before Messalonskee (14-2) scored four straight goals to make the final score a bit more respectable.
“Things just kind of got away from us, and their attack is so powerful and so potent and so hard to stop, and obviously we had a hard time executing against their defense, too,” said Messalonskee Coach Ashley Pullen.
The Eagles had an especially hard time stopping Poirier.
“We knew we needed to try to contain her. There’s just only so much you can do against a player that good,” Pullen said.
The only other Class A championship won by a Marshwood girls’ team was in cheerleading in 2001. The girls’ basketball team won a Class B title in 1995.
“Making history our senior season,” Poirier said. “It’s crazy. I’m so emotional about it, it’s awesome.”
Bohunsky added two goals and Reagan Nichols scored three goals in the first half with two assists on Poirier goals.
Nichols had scored 12 goals all season, according to Coach Bernie Marvin.
“We have been waiting for that all season,” Marvin said of Nichols’ contribution.
“I figured they would mark up on Korinne and Lindsey so we would have to step up really big and it helped out a lot,” Nichols said. “It helped Korinne and Lindsey realize they could look for us, too, and they didn’t have to do it all and that we had their backs.”
Hannah Costin, a consistent contributor, added a goal and an assist.
In addition to its potent offense, Marshwood’s defense allowed only 11 goals in four playoff games – four scored by Messalonskee well after the game was decided.
Senior goalie Emily Kahler and her core defense of Gabby Bazemore, Jenna Kashmer, Kathryn Fagan and Paige Singer held tough in the early going when Messalonskee had multiple lengthy possessions.
“My defense was honestly stepping it up today,” Kahler said.
“It was 8-1 at the half. I had one other shot on in the half. That’s two shots in a half. That’s fantastic defense.”
Copy the Story Link
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.