BATH

Times have been tough for Morse High School field hockey during the past several years.

Last season, the Shipbuilders won two games and scored a total of 11 goals during head coach Kerri Reno’s first season at the helm. In the four years prior to that, Morse won five games and scored a combined 33 goals.

On Thursday in their Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference season opener against Lincoln Academy at McMann Field, the Shipbuilders put up a whopping eight goals in an 8-0 blanking of the Eagles.

Go back in time. Morse had eight goals in the entire 2011 season and put up just five in 2013.

“In the past, we have just hit back and gotten rid of the ball, where this season we are looking at the field,” said Reno, whose Shipbuilders visit Leavitt on Saturday at 10 a.m. “We worked a lot this preseason and summer passing, moving the ball and the defense. We want to play hockey the way that it is meant to be played by using the entire field.”

Senior forward KK Fifield broke the ice with 16:22 left in the first half, the first of her three goals.

“KK has a great head on her shoulders and she is so strong,” said Reno. “You hate to move her up (from defense), but she sees the field so well and has given us some offense, especially off corners.”

“We are the strongest that we have been in a while,” said Fifield. “It’s amazing to win like this. I hope we can keep it up.”

All Morse

The Shipbuilders came out flying, cutting the field in half and pressuring the Lincoln Academy (0-1) defense. Morse (1-0) launched 12 shots in the opening 12 minutes, but Eagles goaltender Zoey Sewell turned them all away to keep the game scoreless.

Fifield broke through for Morse, taking advantage of a small opening on a restart before firing a hard shot off Sewell’s pads for a 1-0 lead.

“It really got us going and showed that we can score and execute what we do in practice,” said Fifield.

Morse continued to press the Lincoln end of the field, and the work paid off as Leah Totman found teammate Madeline Skroski for a tip-in three minutes later to double the lead.

The Shipbuilders didn’t back off as Fifield tallied another goal before Skroski returned the favor by setting up Totman for a 4-0 halftime lead.

Morse out-shot the Eagles

17-0 in the first half and held a 7-0 edge in penalty corners. The Shipbuilders looked to be in shape, hustling throughout.

“We worked on conditioning,” said Reno, who admitted it is a challenge to keep her team motivated when the talk of running laps comes up. “No one likes to do laps, but it is something we have done and continue to do. We have to be able to run the game.”

Morse put the game well out of reach as Vanessa St. Pierre cleaned up her own rebound just 2:52 into the second half, and Fifield gained control off a penalty corner before launching her third goal past Sewell (21 saves) for a 6-0 edge. Totman’s second from Kim St. Pierre made it seven goals, and freshman Kim St. Pierre’s first varsity tally with 7:27 remaining completed the impressive Morse uprising.

Morse goaltender Sophie Wilson (three saves) faced her first shots last in the contest, turning aside Mary Reid on a breakaway to preserve her shutout.

Despite the big victory, Reno still discussed the areas her Shipbuilders need to improve on moving forward.

“We still have some obstructions that we have to clean up, fouls in the midfield, and we need to find out why we are getting obstruction calls. We need to keep passing and see where our teammates are,” said the coach.

The Morse defense of Sydney Moore, Nina Keys and Abbe Durgin were solid when tested.

Morse 8, Lincoln Academy 0

At McMann Field in Bath

Goals — (Mo) KK Fifield 3, Madeline Skroski, Leah Totman 2, Vanessa St. Pierre, Kim St. Pierre. Assists — (Mo) Leah Totman, Madeline Skroski, Kim St. Pierre. Shots on goal — Morse 29, Lincoln Academy 3. Saves — (LA) Zoey Sewell 21; (Mo) Sophie Wilson 3. Penalty corners — Morse 10, Lincoln Academy 2. Records — Morse 1-0, Lincoln Academy 0-1. Up next for the Shipbuilders — Saturday at Leavitt, 10 a.m.