BATH — Morse scored three unanswered goals in the final 14 minutes to pull away from Mt. Ararat for a 6-2 victory in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference girls high school lacrosse on Tuesday at McMann Field.

It was the season opener for the Shipbuilders, who will travel to Thomaston on Thursday to take on Oceanside High School at 4:30 p.m.

Mt. Ararat fell to 1-1 after a season-opening 13-4 win over Lawrence April 12 and will play North Yarmouth Academy on Saturday at 10 a.m.

“It’s good to get that first win out of the way,” Morse co-coach Jess Avery said. “We haven’t been on the field too much this past week because of weather, so it was nice to put it all together out here today. We were missing three senior starters, so I was proud of how we played.”

It took only 21 seconds for Morse to strike. After winning the opening draw, the Shipbuilders marched down the field and a Mae Winglass pass found Sydney Moore in front of the net.  Moore pushed her shot across for the opening goal.

Morse controlled play throughout the first eight minutes of the half, prompting a timeout from Eagles coach Chad Kirk.

“We came out flat. We’ve only practiced a few times as a full team as we were missing kids over vacation,” Kirk said. “We haven’t been on a field all too much either. This is only the third time we’ve seen lines.”

Morse continued its pressure and ball control, using crisp and precise passing, and at 13:14 Moore found the back of the net again, giving the home team a 2-0 lead.

“It was exciting to score today,” Moore said. “I was glad to have the opportunities to score here on varsity.”

“We’ve been focusing on our good, clean passes,” Avery said. “When we passed well, we did well. When we didn’t, we struggled.”

On defense, the trio of Emily Belanger, Macy Coffin and Mollie Crosby along with the always hustling Winglass, kept Mt. Ararat from putting together anything in front of the net, frustrating the Eagles shooters.

The visitors only managed three first-half shots on Morse’s Abby Sreden, and the senior keeper turned away all three, holding the score to 2-0 at the break.

“It’s great having all of them in front of me,” Sreden said of her defense in front of her. “They make my job a lot easier.”

Morse finished the half with a 6-3 advantage in shots, winning all three draws during the opening 25 minutes.

Mt. Ararat’s Amber Card turned away four shots in net.

Second half surge

Morse tallied the first goal of the second half when Coffin picked up a loose ball in front of her own net. After she carried it down the sideline, she passed to Nikki Brazee, where she took it to about 15 yards in front of the net. Once there, the junior found Moore in front, and she scored again, slipping her shot past Amanda Pickens, who came into goal to open the second half.

Less than three minutes later, after winning its first draw of the afternoon, Mt. Ararat tallied its first score with a Jessica Cloutier goal at 17:29 and trailed Morse, 3-1.

As momentum began to shift, the Eagles struck again when sophomore Erin Harty scored off a free position with 14:23 remaining, beating Sreden in the lower right-hand corner to cut the Morse lead to one, 3-2.

After a Morse timeout, the Shipbuilders won their seventh draw and moved down field. With just under 14 minutes on the clock, Winglass scored off a Belanger helper to push the lead back to two goals.

Paige Willis made it 5-2 off a Winglass assist with 12 minutes left, and Brazee capped the scoring with an unassisted tally with 8:11 remaining on the clock.

From there, Sreden and company kept the Eagles off the scoreboard to seal the victory. Sreden stopped nine of Mt. Ararat’s 11 second-half shots to secure the victory, finishing with 12 saves for the game.

“I felt good out there today and was seeing the ball well,” Sreden said. “With the help of my defense, holding them to just two goals is outstanding.”

“Their goalie played well today,” Kirk said. “We need to do a better job at shooting at the open spots with some power behind our shots.”

Mt. Ararat outshot the Shipbuilders, 11-5 in the second half, finishing the game with a 14-11 advantage. Morse won 8-of-10 draw controls.

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