BATH — Undefeated Winslow notched six first-half goals and never looked back en route to an 8-2 high school Class B Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference field hockey victory at McMann Field.
Winslow stayed perfect at 11-0, while the Shipbuilders fell to 5-4.
Winslow’s Bodhi Littlefield (left) and Morse’s Macey Coffin both eye loose ball during the first half of Monday’s KVAC field hockey game at McMann Field. (Eric Maxim / Times Record)
Silver Clukey had three goals and an assist, while Bodhi Littlefield had two goals and two assists for the Black Raiders, who will next take the field on Oct. 8 at Foxcroft Academy.
Kim St. Pierre and Addie Jung each scored second-half goals for the Shipbuilders, who will host Gardiner on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Winslow pressured early, but either the timing of the cross passes in front were off or the Morse defense was able to get a stick on the ball forcing it out of the circle.
“I was really happy with the first 15 minutes,” Morse coach Kerri Reno said. “We came out super ready which we haven’t been doing in our last couple of challenging games.”
“Away games are hard because you’re on the bus. Once we got into it, we got into our groove,” Littlefield said of her team’s slow start.
A groove it was as a Littlefield blast into the circle was picked up by Karlee Ramsdell for the first goal of the game midway through the opening half. Four minutes later, Clukey scored two goals less than a minute apart for a quick 3-0 lead with 11 minutes remaining.
The Raiders added three more scores late in the half, including Clukey’s third goal, again collecting a rebound that came off a Littlefield rocket that bounced off Morse keeper Gracie Hawkes’ stomach.
“We talk a lot about when we get into the circle it’s shot, score or rebound. Just get it in there and go. We work on that a lot as we try to focus on that,” Winslow coach Mary Beth Bourgoin said. “(Littlefield) is a playmaker. She gets those balls in the air with that hard hit. If she doesn’t get it in, the girls have learned to rebound well since it’s a hard rebound.”
Littlefield credits her teammates for being in the right position when she uncorks a shot.
Winslow’s Mariah Morrison (left) and Morse’s Isabel Strelneck both race to the ball during Monday’s KVAC field hockey game at McMann Field in Bath. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
“Our forwards are really good at letting me have that initial shot and then collecting off the rebound because they’re always in great position,” the junior forward said. “I’m proud of them every time they get a stick in there, it’s always a team effort.”
Winslow carried a 6-0 lead into the halftime break, taking 11 shots on goal. Morse was unable to fire a shot on net in the opening 30 minutes. The Raiders took both penalty corners. Hawkes made five saves in net for the home team.
“They work really well together,” Bourgoin said of the Winslow defense that had only allowed four goals coming into the contest. “We have mostly experienced players in the back coming into the season and they’ve done the job for us each game.”
Littlefield found the back of the net for a pair of unassisted tallies in the first seven minutes of the half to push the Black Raiders lead to 8-0.
With under 15 minutes left to play, Morse’s offense came to life, taking its first shot on goal, grabbing its first penalty corner, and finally hitting the back of the cage when St. Pierre scored off a penalty stroke at the 11:41 mark.
Less than a minute later, Jung added another after picking up a loose ball that was sent in by St. Pierre and knocked around by Macey Coffin.
“After Kim got the goal, we all got together and realized we weren’t going to win, so we wanted to have fun,” Jung said afterwards. “All of our mids are great at feeding it in. Kim always gets it into the circle and Macey is good at getting it on goal, it’s a good combination.”
Winslow outshot the Shipbuilders, 13-7, and held a slight advantage in penalty corners, 3-2. Lainey Bell made five saves for the Raiders after relieving starter Leah Polette midway through the second half. Hawkes finished with five stops in the Shipbuilder cage.
Reno was pleased with the final 15 minutes and praised her team who has been struck with injuries of late.
“We have a few girls that are just not 100%, either we’re missing players or we have girls that are playing through injuries,” she said. “We’re coming into the tough part of the season, so we will take that first and last quarter and focus on the positive things. We will learn from this and be ready for Gardiner on Thursday.”
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