When junior Leah Kruse was sidelined with appendicitis, Skowhegan was left without an experienced field hockey goalie. The current situation is so bizarre that Skowhegan’s current goalie is freshman Shynia Boston, who is moving with her family to New Jersey on Friday.

Skowhegan coach Paula Doughty said Boston had never played field hockey — in fact, she had never even seen a field hockey game — but was still interested in playing with the Indians this summer before having to back out.

“She wrote to me and said, ‘Mrs. Doughty, I can’t play this summer because I’m moving to New Jersey,'” Doughty said.

But after Kruse had to sit out, Doughty ran into Boston in the school cafeteria and explained the situation. Doughty said Boston got the OK from her mother, then joined the team for her required five practices before she could suit up for a game.

“I guess when she was a little girl, she played soccer,” Doughty said. “So I said, ‘It’s similar to soccer. You kick it with your feet.’ I feel bad that she’s moving, because she really has a talent for it. I think she’s had nerves of steel.”

Senior Emily Trial played three full games in goal for the Indians after never having played the position until a couple weeks ago. Trial started at midfield in Tuesday’s 6-0 win over Lewiston.

“She did an awesome job,” Doughty said.

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Mount View appears to be back on the upswing after an inconsistent start. Several coaches raved about how strong the Mustangs looked this summer, but after a 2-2 tie with Gardiner, Mount View lost 3-0 to Erskine and tied Camden Hills, 1-1.

Against both Erskine and Camden, the Mustangs were missing two starters, including star center midfielder Kersey Boulay.

“I think, psychologically, they just weren’t ready to play without Kersey,” Mount View coach Gloria Hewett said.

Boulay sprained her ankle at the end of the Gardiner game. She’s in the lineup with some tape and a brace, and the Mustangs have now won three of their last four, with the loss by a 3-2 score to Belfast.

“She’s 100 percent,” Hewett said. “She’s back now.”

The Mustangs moved up to fourth in the Eastern C Heal points with a 3-2 victory over Spruce Mountain on Tuesday. Goalie Dinah Bilodeau had nine saves in the win.

“She was amazing,” Hewett said.

Mount View has some challenging games coming up against Oceanside, Nokomis, and Winslow. Hewett wants the Mustangs to play anything but passively.

“I think if we play aggressive, offensively, and optimistically, then we’ll do fine,” she said.

• • •

In Winthrop’s 3-1 loss to Lisbon on Monday, the Ramblers’ goal was scored by Corinna Coulton on a penalty stroke. That wouldn’t be so unusual, but Coulton is Winthrop’s goalie.

“She took off her hand pads, and her blocker, and her helmet,” Winthrop coach Jess Merrill said. “She still had her kickers on.”

Merrill said the idea of Coulton taking a stroke had been simmering for some time. Merrill said that when Winthrop had a stroke in an earlier game, Coulton was “a little grumpy” that she didn’t get to take the stroke.

“We really don’t have a set stroke (person),” Merrill said. “But Corinna has been quietly practicing her stroke before every game. She was practicing the other day (and) she was hitting the top corner every time.”

Coulton’s shot was true, but goalies taking strokes are so rare that some fans assumed the Ramblers got away with something.

“The girls know she’s been practicing,” Merrill said. “They’ve seen her practicing, so they weren’t surprised by it. I think it was more everyone else that was surprised. They kept asking me, ‘Is that legal?'”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Matt_DiFilippo