TOPSHAM

Ten first-half goals was more than enough to help the Mt. Ararat High School girls lacrosse team pick up its 10th win on Saturday, capturing a 13-1 contest in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference action against visiting Cony.

The win puts the Eagles at 10-1 on the year with one more game to play in the regular season against Edward Little at home on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.

Back on May 7th the Eagles traveled to Augusta to take on the Rams and took that contest 13-6, so the odds were in the Eagles favor.

“Games like this, the girls played hard, Cony played hard, but trying to keep the girls fired up for the whole game is difficult,” Mt. Ararat head coach Sam Chard said about keeping his team’s mentality in check. “The good thing about it though is that some kids that don’t normally see the time got some time. We tried to focus on some different kinds of passes and some plays. It was one of the games where you don’t exactly know how it’s going to be, but a lot of kids got some time in.”

The Eagles got their first goal off the stick of Alison Nolan after a whistle was blown at the top of the arc, and from that point forward it was all Mt. Ararat.

Thirty-five seconds later Erin Tome was fed a pass from Ronni Pelletier just beyond midfield and the junior was able to crash the net and toss in a low shot for a 2-0 lead. By the 10:03 mark the Eagles had added two more goals with thanks to Lauren Williams and another from Nolan, and this time Rebecca Schuman notched her first of three on the day.

After coming up with a loose ground ball in front of the net, Schuman took a cross-body shot to the right to push her team up 5-0.

“It’s extremely important, especially since we’re coming so close to the playoffs,” senior captain Katie Labbay said in regard to staying level headed no matter the opponent. “I think we need to keep playing as a team and I think we did that today. The goals were definitely spread out and everyone had a chance play in the game and make it what we did.”

Tome scored twice more over the course of the first half, once with 9:41 left after picking up a rebound and another at the 7:05 when leaping up and dumping it in at the top shelf.

With 16 seconds on the clock and Mt. Ararat up 9-0, Schuman notched a hat trick when receiving an open shot after a blown whistle inside the arc.

Cony managed to break out on to the scoreboard with just under nine minutes to play in regulation. Katelyn Bilodeau crashed the net after a call was made inside the crease. However, from that point forward the Eagles regained control.

Emily Welch burned across the left side and sniped one in at the top to give the Eagles their 13th and final goal with under six minutes to play. Sophomore Porter Galvin also scored to open up the half, while Alyssa Curit collected a tally with 20:12 on the clock.

With only one game remaining, the focus begins to turn toward the postseason for the Eagles.

“We’re feeling pretty good,” Labbay said about the feel of her team. “It would have been nice to have an undefeated season, but I think going in with a loss will do us a lot more justice. There’s obviously a lot of pressure since we’ve been really good this season, so I think going in we’re just hoping for the best. Playing like we do is what we’re going to do.”

“You finish the regular season and you finish strong,” Chard said. “It’s our senior week next week so anything can happen. There’s a lot of emotions in a game like that and Edward Little, they can surprise people. You can’t take anything for granted. You have to play hard and prepare for the playoffs, but take it one game at a time.”

Mt. Ararat 13,
Cony 1

At Mt. Ararat High School
Cony — 0 1 — 1
Mt. Ararat — 10 3 — 13
Goals — (C) Katelyn Bilodeau; (MtA)
Rebecca Schuman 3, Erin Tome 3,
Alison Nolan 2, Lauren Williams,
Katie Labbay, Alyssa Curit, Porter
Galvin, Emily Welch.
Assists — (MtA) Ronni Pelletier, Lauren Williams.
Shots — Mt. Ararat 23, Cony 15.
Saves — (C) Elizabeth Dennison 9;
(MtA) Eleanor Skinner 2, Vanessa
Balser 4.
Draw controls — Mt. Ararat 10, Cony
5.
Records — Mt. Ararat 10-1, Cony 0-
11.
Up next for the Eagles — Wednesday at home against Edward Little,
3:30 p.m.