KENNEBUNK — Jenny Bush and the Kennebunk offense was held quiet for the first half of the Rams’ game against Massabesic Friday afternoon. But when it mattered most, the Rams attack roared ”“ and so did Bush.

Kennebunk rallied from a 7-3 halftime deficit to force overtime, then Bush scored twice in the first overtime and the Rams hung on in the second for an 11-9 victory in a Western Maine girls lacrosse clash at Veterans Memorial Field.

“I think basically the offense knew they became completely unraveled, with (the defense) coming out on them,” Kennebunk head coach Annie Barker said of her team’s first half performance. “We just said, ”˜you know what, you’re loading one side, the other side is wide open. You just got to swing the ball and keep your composure.’”

Bush scored one of the three Kennebunk (5-0) goals in the first half, on a free position shot with less than two minutes in the period, but was generally held in check by the Massabesic defense. She also wasn’t her normal dominant self on draws, as Massabesic’s Maquila DiMastrantonio kept Bush from winning faceoffs in the air and neutralized one of the Rams’ biggest weapons.

So Barker made an adjustment, taking Bush off the draw and instead putting her at the edge of the circle to win groundballs. She also told Bush to make an adjustment herself.

“We pulled Jenny off and said ”˜Jenny, we need you. We need you to get in the center so we can feed you.’ And she became just strictly an attacker at that point,” said Barker, “and that made a difference for us.”

Bush put the Rams ahead 1:43 into the first overtime ”“ Kennebunk’s first lead of the game ”“ on a free position shot, then scored again 16 seconds later after the Rams won the ensuing draw.

The Mustangs (3-1) had their chance to get back into the game in the second overtime, but Kennebunk goalie Bella Kudas made two saves on free position goals and the Rams held on.

It was a difficult outcome for the Mustangs to swallow, as they looked to be the superior team during the first 25 minutes. Massabesic’s defense stifled the Rams attack, as the Mustangs played an aggressive style that Barker said gave her team fits.

“I thought we were playing pretty good defense. I thought we played pretty good defense in the second half. I don’t think a lot of that changed,” said Massabesic head coach Brooks Bowen. “But when you get multiple opportunities at free positions, you’re going to score goals at some point.”

With the Kennebunk offense unable to find the back of the net in the first half, Massabesic was able to turn defense into offense, scoring many of their goals off the fast break. Mackenzie Kidder netted four goals in the opening period, Delia Sylvain added two more and Madi Drain scored on a free position chance.

Kennebunk got its own chances from free position, but Massabesic goalie Megan Hill made life difficult, as she stopped seven of those shots. The Rams were able to get a few by her, including one from Liv Sandford to open the second half and another to tie the game 9-9 with 1:15 to play.

“Meg was great all game,” said Bowen. “She’s a great goalie, she keeps us in a lot of games. And I’m just glad she’s on our side and not somebody else’s.”

The Massabesic lead was still 9-6 with 10 minutes to play, but Kyra Schwartzman started the Rams’ rally 6:38 left, then cut it to one just over a minute later.

“When they finally got one, they were like ”˜okay, we can do this,’” said Barker. “I think they knew they could come back. And there’s enough leaders out there that they can fight, and they fought their way back out of it.”

Despite the loss, Bowen said going toe-to-toe with Kennebunk is a big boost for his still-developing squad.

“This is perfect for us right now. We have some things that we’re still working on, obviously, in all the phases the game,” said Bowen. “I’m sure that at some point later on in the season we’re going to pull this tool out of our toolbox and lean back on it, and say ”˜remember when…’ and learn from that experience and move forward. Hopefully it benefits us next time.”

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.