Lauren McIntyre scored three goals, including the winner with 1:23 left, as Portland defeated Deering 4-3 in an SMAA field hockey game Monday at Memorial Field.
The winning goal for Portland (3-1) came 11 seconds after Kerry Wells of Deering (1-3) tied the game.
“I just thought to myself, I’m going to score,” said McIntyre. “It wasn’t really an option. It was more of, this is going to happen.”
“I saw her talking after (Deering) scored and I said ‘Oh, she’s going to go score,'” said Portland Coach Beth Arsenault.
On the draw, McIntyre ran up the middle of the field, weaving in and out of defenders and putting a shot on net.
The first shot was saved by goalkeeper Lillian Frager, but McIntyre buried the rebound.
“When she decides that she’s going to do something, that’s what she can do. There aren’t many players in the league that can do that,” said Arsenault.
“I told my teammates to run up and run a give-and-go, and we’re just going to try and put it in the net. And it worked,” said McIntyre.
Deering outshot Portland 11-0 in the first half but led just 1-0. Portland goalkeeper Gianna Gaudet did an incredible job keeping her team in the game.
“I think (Gaudet making all those saves) rallies the players to say, let’s go get one (goal). Sometimes I think it bites us, we trust her too much. We say we’ll let up some shots, Gia will stop them,” said Arsenault.
Deering had a chance to tie the game as time expired. The Rams were awarded a corner as the clock was winding under 12 seconds.
According to the rules, even when the clock has expired, the corner is to be played out. Off the corner, there was a lot of traffic in front of the net and Deering got a shot off, but it went off Gaudet’s shoulder and over the net to end the game.
Gaudet finished with 16 saves.
“I have a dynamic forward (McIntyre) and a dynamic goalie, and I have all kinds of really good players in between,” said Arsenault.
“When they all work together, this is what can happen.”
The game was dedicated to Shelly DiBiase, a generous woman who is extremely involved in field hockey in the Portland area.
This game was called “Play for the Cure” and all of the proceeds will be donated to cancer research.
“It was amazing to have everybody out there. It was really emotional having Shelly come out,” said Deering Coach Liz Koharian. “If anything, that was the best part of the day.”
Kaytlin DiBiase finished with two goals for the Rams, but that was far from being the most exciting part of her day.
Before the game, she learned that her mother is now cancer-free.
“That’s really the whole scheme of things,” said Koharian. “It’s more important – you know, the cause.”
Both teams wore pink warm-up shirts that read “Shelly’s Game” with a logo: Two field hockey sticks that made a ribbon, which represented cancer awareness.
“If you have an opportunity to bring awareness and help a cause, you have to take it. It’s a moral imperative,” said Arsenault.
“It’s good for the girls to realize that they need to give back. Especially for someone like Shelly, who is a giver. When you get a chance to honor somebody like that, you need to jump at it and be grateful that you were able to be included.”
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