TOPSHAM — The Mt. Ararat High School field hockey team played its third game in four days on Thursday, looking to cap off the week with another win following a pair of victories.
Mt. Ararat’s Brynn Charron knocks the ball down the field during the first half of Thursday’s KVAC field hockey match up against Hampden Academy. Charron tallied two goals in the Eagles 5-1 victory. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
The Eagles earned the trifecta, exploding for four first-half goals en route to a 5-1 victory over Hampden Academy in Class A Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference field hockey action.
Mt. Ararat improves to 3-1 as the Broncos fell to 0-3.
“It has been a good week,” Mt. Ararat coach Krista Chase said after wins over Bangor (2-1) and Edward Little (3-0) earlier in the week. The Eagles lost their season opener to Messalonskee, 3-1.
Brynn Charron paced the Eagles with a pair of goals as Wyley Fitzpatrick and Brea Holtet each added a goal and an assist. Senior Holly Temple registered a goal in the win.
Mt. Ararat came out with aggressive play from the opening whistle. Less than four minutes into the contest, the aggressiveness paid off as Charron tallied the first goal of the game. A Holtet shot was initially stopped by the pads of Broncos keeper Taylor Guerrette, but Charron was in the right spot for the rebound and drove it to the back of the cage.
“You always want to be aggressive and carry it out throughout the whole game,” Charron said. “I think we came out really strong and that paid off. We scored early and that usually doesn’t happen.”
Ten minutes later with 18:06 left in the half, Charron was in the right spot again, smashing a shot from the left side, bouncing it off Guerrette for the score.
“It was a hard angle, but I shot anyway, and I got lucky enough that it deflected off their goalie,” the junior forward said. “You don’t always take those shots but when you do, they count.”
Mt. Ararat’s Wyley Fitzpatrick, left, beats Broncos defender Augusta Flanagan to the ball during the second half of Thursday’s KVAC field hockey game at Mt. Ararat Middle School. Fitzpatrick had a goal and an assist in the Eagles 5-1 victory as they improved to 3-1. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
“I’ve been working really hard with us on taking harder and more frequent shots. As soon as we touch the circle, we have a tendency to play around the ball,” Chase said. “These girls have great stick skills, but once you hit the circle, forget all that talent, shoot the ball. I’m old school like that, old school field hockey still has a place, you can’t score if you don’t shoot.”
The attack continued for the home team as Fitzpatrick added a goal after carrying the ball into the circle and dodging defenders to beat Hampden’s goalie.
“Her speed is unlike really anyone I’ve ever coached,” Chase said about her speedy senior. “The tough part is on her breakaways, I cannot expect my other players to keep up with her and that’s just reality for us. I’m not going to tell Wyley to slow down, it’s tough for her because she needs to get around all the defenders and the goalie by herself and occasionally, she can do it.”
Fitzpatrick was involved with the next score, assisting Holtet at 7:38. After Fitzpatrick stole the ball at mid field and carried it to the circle, she slapped a shot that bounced off the keeper to the left post where Holtet was there to knock it in.
“She works really really hard carrying the ball up to the circle and distributes the ball very well,” Chase added about Fitzpatrick. “She’s a very good defensive attacker. She can keep the ball in our end of the offense when the other team has it.”
Hampden’s Reese Levesque put the visitors on the board with 2:33 left in the half, beating keeper Lily Schenk for the goal where the score stood, 4-1 at the break.
Mt. Ararat outshot the Broncos, 11-2, taking all four first-half penalty corners.
Almost as quick as they scored in the first half, the Eagles received their final goal when Holly Temple grabbed a rebound and found the back of the cage five minutes into the second frame.
Mt. Ararat’s Holly Temple, middle, fights for the ball between Hampden Academy defenders, Amelia Plant, left, and Ingrid Plant during the first half of a KVAC field hockey clash at Mt. Ararat Middle School. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
“We’re good enough and fast enough with our foot work that we should be able to play the rebounds. You usually don’t score off the initial shot, it’s the rebound,” Chase said. “You have to move the defense around and catch them off guard a bit while getting the goalie to move around. (Guerrette) came out a lot and made us earn our goals.”
Mt. Ararat held the advantage in penalty corners, 6-2, while outshooting the Broncos, 18-3. Schenk had one save during the first half, while Emma Lapreziosa turned away the one shot she saw in the second. Hampden’s Guerrette finished with 13 saves.
The Eagles host Brunswick on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
“We have some tough games coming up, so we’ll keep working on it,” added Chase.
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