DIXFIELD

It didn’t take long for Lisbon High School to establish itself offensively in a Mountain Valley Conference field hockey game Wednesday.

A pair of goals by senior forward Hanna Jordan provided Lisbon with a commanding lead and it stood up in a 3-2 win against Dirigo on at sunny Harlow Park.

This was a key matchup between two playoff-bound teams which are jockeying for position. Dirigo (5-6-1) was coming off a 1-1 tie against Winthrop and had moved up to a tie for third in Heal points. The Greyhounds (9-2- 1) are the defending Class C state champions and are currently ranked No. 2. Lisbon hosts Winthrop on Friday.

“This team is expected to play hard for the whole game,” Lisbon coach Julie Wescott said. “They need to give it their all because there are no superstars. They can’t solely rely on one or two players, but rely on the entire team.’”

The Lisbon forward line — Olivia Harrington, Arianna Kahler and Jordan — started strong and benefited from the support of the midfield. The constant pressure forced the Cougar defense on their heels and led to the first goal by Molly Nicholson, who redirected a shot by Dirigo goalie Amanda Dolloff (14 saves) into the right corner of the cage.

Dirigo was unable to match the intensity applied by the Greyhounds. Jordan drilled home a pass by Bailey Cutler, with 13:21 left in the first half.

“In the first half, we didn’t play that well,” Dirigo coach Gretchen Errington said. “They were not going to the ball, so I called a timeout and told them to go back to playing a fundamentally sound game. They didn’t keep their sticks on the ground, and Lisbon was hitting the ball long, and we weren’t stopping any of them.”

Moments later, Jordan scored again to give Lisbon a 3-0 lead. The Greyhounds were awarded 10 penalty corners in the first half.

“I felt we were passing the ball well and cutting (to crease),” Wescott said. “Then we had a lapse in the second half when we had a couple breakdowns.”

Dirigo finally jump-started its offense and scored in the final minute of the first half. Ellen Wainwright advanced the ball in the circle and Lisbon sweeper Mariah Breton tried clearing the circle. Britney Ellis intercepted it and drilled the ball across to the left side toward teammates Emma Leuders and Kelsey Wilson. It was Wilson who got her stick on the ball and flicked it past Lisbon goalie Stevie Charest (four saves) on the short side.

“I was pleased with how the girls picked it up in the second half,” Errington said. “We were playing the No. 1 team (defending state champions) and no one expected us to do anything from us. We replaced a couple upperclassmen with underclassmen because no one isn’t replaceable. The move worked because they played well when they went back in.”

Brittany LaPointe scored on a Grace Hebert assist, with 4:01 left to play.

But, Lisbon quickly regrouped and had four shots on goal in one sequence and now prepares for the Ramblers. Winthrop knocked off Lisbon 2-1 on Sept. 26.

“We’ve been playing well like every time out is a playoff game and need to continue to,” said Wescott. “We have them at our place this time and are feeling pretty good about our chances.”