PORTLAND — Biddeford didn’t have much trouble scoring goals in its first two games this season. Tuesday against McAuley it wasn’t any different, as the Tigers scored 13 in the first half to roll to a 15-6 victory over McAuley in a Class A girls lacrosse game at Larry Mahaney Athletic Park.
Biddeford (2-1) broke the ice just 55 seconds in, with Olivia Morrison doing the honors.
The Lions (0-2) tied the game up two minutes in, as Amanda Spink scored on a free position shot, but Morrison regained the Biddeford lead 50 seconds later.
There was a lull in the action until Mia LaFlamme scored a pair of goals 1:48 apart to make it 4-1 Tigers with just under 14 minutes to play in the first half.
McAuley head coach Jackie Dubois called a timeout after LaFlamme’s second goal, and Biddeford head coach Caitlin Albert seized the opportunity to chat with her charges.
“I was about to actually call a timeout myself, and I let them know,” said Albert, whose team is averaging more than 13 goals per game so far this season. “I just told them, honestly, ”˜calm it down, we’re not forcing’ and then they just did what they do.”
“She just said play our game,” said LaFlamme. “We know we can do it. We just need to work on plays and movement and getting wide so we have that open space to make the plays.”
While the Tigers might have calmed their nerves thanks to the timeout, they certainly didn’t calm their scoring. LaFlamme scored 12 seconds after play resumed and once more during a nine-goal spurt to end the first half.
“I do like what I see offensively,” said Albert. “We’ve been connecting a lot more this season, and that shows, for us to be able to score 13 goals in a half.”
“They weren’t playing as tight D as we’re used to, so it gave us a lot of time to have the movement, and move the goalie and as we call it, ”˜make her dance,’” said LaFlamme.
Jess Letellier scored 20 seconds into the second half to put Biddeford up 14-1, but the Tigers slowed their attack after that, focusing more on ball possession with the game all but decided.
Taylor Turgeon scored her fourth goal of the game with just under eight minutes left, equaling LaFlamme’s game-high total. Morrison and Peyton McKeown both scored a pair of goals and the Tigers had seven different players find the back of the net.
“It’s a matter of just playing as a team. At the beginning of the season I saw that the teamwork was there,” said Albert. “We can be selfish within the means of the team.”
“If someone has the ball, as long as you give her space, we know she can take it,” said LaFlamme.
Greta DiPierro scored three goals in the second half as the Lions got the deficit to less than 10 with 2:14 left to play.
— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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