Bonny Eagler Amelia Alexander notched the afternoon’s only goal when Noble came to town on Tuesday, Sept. 27, handing the Scots a 1-0 W over the Knights.

It was Bonny Eagle’s second win of the season thus far. The team has faced some struggles, dropping seven of their first eight games. Head coach Noelle Surette, though, expressed optimism, even indicating her girls had solid opportunities to take some of the matchups they ultimately lost.

“We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole,” Surette said. “We let some games slip away from us, so we knew that the second half of the season, there’s three or four games we really have to go after if we want to get that playoff bid – this being one of them”

Bonny Eagle dominated the first half attack, largely maintaining possession of the ball on Noble’s half of the field.

“We kept the ball on the offensive end for most of the half,” Surette said; “we just didn’t find a way to capitalize. Our midfield and our defense really held us down and gave us a little leeway when we weren’t finishing up front.”

Alexander’s goal came on a well-executed corner. The play had everything a coach or fan could hope for: a pinpoint insertion (courtesy of Natalie Bushey) with some oomph behind it, a couple of quick passes, an initial shot by Alexander and then her own determined follow-up to score on the rebound. 1-0.

“We’ve been working on our corners a lot,” said Surette. “We’ve been struggling to execute in the last couple games. That’s been our go-to corner and we finally did the bang-bang play and did what we were hoping to do.”

Noble did charge onto the field looking alive in the latter half. The Knights were able to apply some pressure to the Scots, securing a lengthy attack to begin the stretch, for instance. But they couldn’t ultimately convert, and Bonny Eagle soon balanced the action again.

“Our communication in the second half, when we came out, was not as strong as it needed to be,” said Surette. “That gave them a bit of momentum on the offensive end. We finally made that adjustment and that allowed us to send the ball back to our offensive end.”

Similarly, towards the end of the afternoon, the Knights put together a drive that resulted in some near-misses for them, including a couple hacking attempts following a corner. Here, defensive credit goes to Chloe Owen, the Scots’ freshman keeper.

“Chloe has really developed over the season, she’s stepped up for us,” said Surette. “(She has) a ton of natural athletic ability and is really good about coming out of the goal cage and creating defensive opportunities.”

Owen hadn’t started the game between the pipes. That honor went to Lindsay Gleason, a senior, who likewise played well. Surette simply swapped the two during the break because both are performing lately and both had earned the chance to show off their stuff.

“Both of our goalies work equally hard,” said Surette, “and right now we’re just looking for that edge. I thought Lindsay played really well in the first half, but wanted to give Chloe an opportunity to show me what she could do in the second half.”

Bonny Eagle travels to No. 7 Gorham (6-2-2) on Thursday the 29th; they host No. 3 Marshwood (8-1) on Monday the 3rd.

Bonny Eagler Sadie Denico fires forward as a Noble opponent descends on her position.

Sam Averill tracks the action for Bonny Eagle, having just handed off the ball.

Catherine Biegel blasts a ball toward the Noble net.

Kaylee Collins carries the ball upfield in the Scots’ home win over Noble on Tuesday.

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