WATERVILLE — The joke around Eastern A this season was that Skowhegan finally got to see how the rest of the field hockey teams in the state live. Sure, the Indians were the No. l seed again, but they lost twice in the regular season and were hounded by injuries all year.
On Tuesday night at Thomas College, Skowhegan once again showed what kind of team it is when all or most of the parts are working. Junior Brooke Michonski scored three goals, and the Indians pulled away in the second half to defeat Mt. Blue 4-0 in an Eastern A semifinal.
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“Throughout the year, we haven’t had everybody on board,” Skowhegan coach Paula Doughty said. “We’re just starting to click at the right time. We came together today.”
Skowhegan (14-2) faces No. 2 Lawrence (14-2) in the Eastern A final on Thursday at the Weatherbee Complex in Hampden. The Maine Principals’ Association will set the rotation of the games on Wednesday. Skowhegan edged the Bulldogs 2-1 in overtime in Skowhegan when the teams met earlier this month.
The most obvious of the Skowhegan players who were “back” on Tuesday was junior goalie Leah Kruse, who was weakened by appendicitis this season. After most of the first half was spent between the 25-yard-lines, Mt. Blue attacked the cage with five shots over the final four minutes. Kruse made four saves during that time, including an amazing split save with her right foot.
“She said to me today, ‘Today is the first day I felt like myself. For the last two weeks, my brain works and my legs won’t,'” Doughty said. “She had some beautiful saves today.”
Michonski scored her first goal 3 minutes, 53 seconds into the first half off a pass from Haley Thebarge. Although Mt. Blue had not played on turf this season and the Indians have had a few games on the fake stuff, the Cougars stuck with Skowhegan the rest of the half.
“We like playing on turf better because it’s a faster game,” Michonski said. “We get to use more passes and it’s not as bumpy as a field as the grass would be.”
Michonski made it 2-0 just 1:05 after the break. Lauren LeBlanc made it 3-0 with 18:03 left when she took the insertion pass on a penalty corner and drilled it in.
“I thought we stepped it up a lot better in the midfield,” Doughty said. “Our midfield just wasn’t shutting them down in the first half. The midfield played much better (in) the second half, and I think that was the difference. And the forward line played a lot a lot more defense in the second half. That made a big difference.”
Cassidy Clement set up Michonski’s third goal with a drive into the circle that Michonski deflected on a crazy hop for the score with 4:19 left.
While Skowhegan advances to the regional final again, Mt. Blue coach Jody Harmon is optimistic about her team’s future. The Cougars start four sophomores and a freshman.
“They’ve worked really hard,” Harmon said. “They worked all summer and preseason, and it’s just been a great ride.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
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