Field Hockey: Lake Region, Yarmouth tussle, 0-0 draw results

Emerson Dinsmore charges through the midfield for Lake Region.

YARMOUTH—Lake Region’s offense couldn’t quite get it done at Yarmouth on Friday night, Oct. 11 – but their defense sure could: Goalie Kelsey Gerry led the Lakers’ protection from the back as LRHS battled the Clippers to a double-overtime, 0-0 draw.

Lake Region head coach Pauline Webb praised a number of her girls.

“Yeah, she [did],” Webb said, when it was noted that Ali Vogel turned in a strong defensive performance. And: “Julia’s incredible,” when Julia Murch’s midfield contributions came up.

Webb continued. “Kaitlyn had a good stick, getting up there,” she said of Kaitlyn Plummer, a force for LRHS, particularly on the attack. “Emerson Dinsmore played really well defensively today, especially in the overtime period.”

“And my goalie, Kelsey Gerry,” Webb said, “had a humungous game today. This was probably her best game.”

The teams took turns on the attack throughout the game, neither side clearly holding the edge: A Lake Region stretch of control midway through the uphill half, for example, gave way to a Yarmouth plunge – which in turn gave way when Vogel interrupted a Clippers’ ball-carrier along the right sideline.

Possession soon fell to Meserve, near the top of the Lakers’ zone; Meserve fed forward to roster-mate Sadie Terrell, but all too soon, Yarmouth stole the ball back. The action seesawed once again: The Clippers pressed close to Gerry, who turned in a defiant kick-save – one of numerous saves Gerry recorded on the night.

Gerry recorded another save with just under 10 minutes to play before the break, winning a one-on-one with a Yarmouth opponent and deflecting her shot just wide of the Lake Region cage.

LRHS couldn’t convert on a corner opportunity around 7:15, but neither could Yarmouth convert on a pair of back-to-back corners around 5:00. Then, with under a minute to go, Vogel and Clipper Abby Hill dashed shoulder-to-shoulder toward a bounding ball, loose in the Lake Region end. Hill won the footrace, earning a one-on-one with Gerry – but Gerry thwarted Hill’s advance with another flashy kick-save.

“Earlier in the season, we lost those one-on-one battles,” Webb said. “And Kelsey’s getting those now.”

The second half unfolded in practically the same fashion. Both sides continued their defensive displays: Laker Dakota Durant interrupted a lone, attacking Clipper around 21:30, and Yarmouth netminder Cassie Walsh logged a brilliant pad save on a hard, airborne shot by Plummer.

“These kids know each other very well,” Webb said of the Lakers and the Clippers, “because they play together in the winter. So [Yarmouth knows] the tendencies of Kaitlyn especially, with breaking away…When we tried to use Delaney or our other forwards a little bit more, we were able to make a little more forward progress.”

“Passing the ball,” Webb said, asked what her girls were doing well during the times they controlled. “Instead of trying to break away by ourselves. So, more pepper-passing down the field.”

Plummer fired off another nice shot – this one came from 15 yards out, give or take –with maybe 45 seconds remaining in regulation, but the ball sailed just wide of Walsh. Overtime arrived.

Yarmouth pressured early in OT1, but couldn’t generate many quality chances. Gerry kick-saved one, and shortly Lake Region took a turn on offense. The Lakers dug up a handful of corner tries, but couldn’t convert. Meserve inserted on the last of them – best one of the batch – and Plummer took the shot. The melee out front of Walsh, though, blocked the ball.

Gerry hashed two more dominant kick-saves across the remainder of the stretch.

Meserve also inserted on the best chance either team managed in OT2. Julia Murch received Meserve’s pass, then fed for Plummer, who pulled the trigger. Walsh blocked.

Time wound down.

“We knew it was going to be a really good game, because we look at what’s happening and you just never know,” Webb said. By “what’s happening,” Webb meant the high level of parity across B South this year.

“We played well,” Webb said. “We couldn’t get the timing of our passes [quite right]. And I think we were anxious in the circle with our shots on goal – that can be a tendency for us. But it’s anybody’s game. This is Yarmouth’s turf.”

The tie moved Lake Region to 8-4-1 on the autumn, and Yarmouth to 6-6-1. The Lakers closed their regular season with 3-0 victory at Poland on Tuesday, Oct. 15; the Clippers traveled to Freeport the following day.