Cheverus takes an early lead, then survives a second-half flurry from Marshwood.
Hannah Woodford is in her first year as the varsity goalie for Cheverus’ field hockey team, but Monday afternoon she played like a seasoned veteran.
Woodford made 12 saves and her teammates fought off 14 penalty corners to help the Stags bounce back and earn a critical 1-0 win over Marshwood at Shea Field.
Lucia Pompeo scored the lone goal for Cheverus, which improved to 6-5. Marshwood is also 6-5.
“I was just hoping I could make the saves and the defense could get the ball out,” Woodford said. “Being a varsity goalie is a lot more intense, but I have good defenders and a good team in front of me.”
Cheverus, which lost by six goals to Westbrook on Thursday, needed just 3:35 to take the lead. Bella Booth got the ball to Pompeo, who one-timed a blast past Marshwood goalie Sarah Arenberg.
“I just took the ball and shot it,” Pompeo said. “I was on my strong side and shot for the corner.”
Woodford made eight saves in the first half and the Stags had to hang on in the second half.
The Hawks kept the ball in the Cheverus defensive zone for most of the 30 minutes.
The Hawks earned 10 corners in the second half, but Woodford and the Stags stopped every one.
“I’m just trying to put myself directly in front of the girl shooting the ball because I know I can go side-to-side if I need to,” Woodford said.
Woodford denied Marshwood’s Leah Glidden on a blast with 19 minutes to go. Corrin Hasty’s pass through the circle went untouched a minute later and with 9:54 on the clock, Glidden made solid contact, but Woodford got in front of the ball to preserve the 1-0 victory.
“This was great,” said Cheverus Coach Sally Cloutier. “What a good match. (Marshwood’s) a good team. They gave us a ton of pressure, but our kids held up. We got lucky because they’re fast and quick and have dangerous players. The plan was get ahead early and beat them to the ball and we did that. Hannah played awesome and made some big saves.”
The Stags have another key showdown at Scarborough on Wednesday.
“This is a confidence-booster,” Pompeo said. “We can’t get in our heads too much and get frustrated. We need to keep it positive.”
Arenberg made seven saves for the Hawks, who finished with a 12-8 edge in shots and a 14-6 advantage in penalty corners.
“It was frustrating, but if we take nothing else from this, I can’t fault the effort,” said Marshwood Coach Kristin Dupont.
“We gave everything we could. I think we outplayed them and had the ball in their end most of the game. Nine times out of 10 we’ll score goals when we play like that.”
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