An inauspicious start to the field hockey season for both Lewiston and Mt. Ararat on Wednesday — a slowly developing, choppy first half — finally turned the corner in the second, and with the help of a finally healthy Magan Thomas- Copland, the Eagles came out on top.
“I haven’t had (Thomas- Copland) completely healthy for a whole season yet,” Mt. Ararat coach Krista Chase said. “She’s been prone to injury, and I’m expecting big things from her this year.”
Chase has moved the speedy forward around in her lineup for parts of three seasons, this year giving her a chance on the front line with an eye toward more overall team scoring.
“I’ve played her everywhere,” Chase said. “As a sophomore, she was one of my backs, junior year she was my mid. But she can score. This is the year we need to be scoring. I’m tired of always playing low-scoring seasons.”
Things didn’t start that way for the Eagles (1-0), who combined with the Blue Devils (0-1) for four total shots and three penalty corner chances in the opening half.
“I think we had first-game jitters,” Chase said. “New players in bigger roles, and I think even though we had a full preseason, we’d emphasized this being the first countable game. I think they had jitters in that first half and they forgot some of their fundamentals.”
Lewiston also struggled a bit in the early going, but even in the early loss, coach Randy Richardson saw signs of life from his young group.
“Hopeful,” Richardson said. “Really hopeful. I think right now, we’re thin in numbers. We do have some potent subs, but many are dealing with injuries, fitness issues, these kinds of things. I think the 11 who were out there to start the game were among our strongest players. And I think as the season goes along, they are seeing some of the coaching points in action.”
Even with its slow start, Mt. Ararat struck for the first goal of the season just 4:16 into the game when Abby Malbon redirected a feed from Thomas-Copland past Lewiston keeper Ashley Cronkhite from the right side of the circle.
Despite the lead, the Eagles weren’t happy.
“It’s Game 1, so there are still kinks that we’re working out, there are a lot of things we’re trying to resolve,” Chase said. “Overall, I think they did a good job identifying what wasn’t working in that first half and fixing it in the second half so we got some goals.”
Wyley Fitzpatrick doubled the Eagles’ lead in the 15th minute of the second half on another slick feed from Thomas-Copland, who then tacked on her own tally with 5:51 to play to put the game out of reach.
Despite equaling Mt. Ararat in penalty corner opportunities, Lewiston struggled to get shots on the cage.
“I think we need to work on getting the ball up and keeping it in the circle,” Lewiston captain Kasey Talarico said. “I think we need to work on scoring.”
The Blue Devils’ next chance to do that will be Friday when they host Oxford Hills. The Eagles also play Friday when they host rival Brunswick in their home opener at 4 p.m.
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