Sanford 1

Scarborough 0

On Saturday, the Sanford and Scarborough field hockey teams got together for the first time since last year’s Western Maine final. Sanford won that game, and went on to play for the state title. This time, the result was the same. Jordan Braiser put the ball in the net 89 seconds into the game and the Redskins made sure it stood up to earn a 1-0 win in a battle of unbeatens.

“We were playing a great team, we were a great team coming in, a team has to win and a team has to lose,” said Scarborough coach Kerry Mariello. “Unfortunately we couldn’t squeak one by the goalie. Their defense was strong at the end.”

It was Sanford’s first trip into the attacking zone and Braiser took a pass from Jill Boyce and found the back of the cage for a 1-0 lead at 28:31 of the first half.

“I didn’t really see it coming at first,” Braiser said. “Jill passed it to me and I didn’t really know where to go to, so I hit it into the corner. I was happy when it happened.”

“It was huge because it just took a little bit of wind out of their sails,” Sanford coach Diana Walker said of the early goal. “And it gave our kids a chance to play our game.”

With all that time left in the game, it certainly seemed like both teams would have time to score a few more goals. That didn’t turn out to be the case. Both teams had chances, but couldn’t score.

Early on, the Red Storm had a few penalty corners and with 25:01 on the clock nearly got one by Sanford goalie Emily Downing. Downing managed to get a stick on it as she dove to keep the ball out of the net.

“It was nerve-wracking,” Downing said. “At the beginning of the game we were tense and pumped up. We wanted to win, we didn’t want to be the team who went home defeated today. It was pretty intense.”

Scarborough tried in vain to net the equalizer in the second half. They had several chances late in the game but Downing was up to the task. Late in the game, Downing had to make another diving sweep with her stick to preserve the shutout.

“I don’t think we played our best game,” Walker said. “Defensively we were outstanding. My goalie had outstanding saves. But offensively we have played much better. So I was pleased that we were able to put that one goal in and hold onto it. I really thought they were going to score, though we were hoping they weren’t.”

With the loss, Scarborough fell to 6-1 on the season.

“It’s discouraging when it comes to this situation,” Mariello said. “The team I have is very strong obviously as our record shows, but when it comes to playing someone as strong the mental aspect is the difference. And that’s where I can say our weakness is at this point because we haven’t had the experience Sanford has.”

Sanford improved to 7-0 on the season but maybe more importantly come playoff time, they will likely have home field advantage should the two teams meet again.

“It wouldn’t hurt us if we lost as far as playoffs; we’ll still be there,” Walker said. “They are going to be in the top one or two, and if we play them, we have home field advantage because we beat them.”

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