Nathalie St. Pierre of Messalonskee took one shot in the Class A girls’ lacrosse championship game Saturday.

She made it count.

St. Pierre scored with 1:23 left in the first overtime, converting an alert pass from Ally Turner to beat Massabesic 7-6 at Fitzpatrick Stadium.

“I was just waiting and I didn’t want to force anything earlier in the game, and I saw the opportunity and I took it,” St. Pierre said. “I think they were honestly focusing on Ally. She was drawing them and we just made perfect eye contact at the right time.”

“I saw Nat right there and I knew she’d be there to finish. That’s her shot,” Turner said.

It was the first girls’ lacrosse state championship for Messalonskee (14-1). In 2015 the Eagles reached the state final for the first time but lost 13-5 to Marshwood after falling behind 8-1 in the first half.

Advertisement

Massabesic (14-2) opened with a four-goal spree in the opening minutes, with Maquila DiMastrantonio (two of her three goals), Josie Ring and Delia Sylvain scoring quickly in transition, and raising the notion of another blowout.

“It was just a tiny, fast, very fleeting second when I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, is this going to be like last year?’ ” said Messalonskee Coach Ashley Pullen, who is leaving to take a job in the Falmouth district. “And then it was gone because this is a totally different team than last year. And even though we were down 4-0, it didn’t feel like 4-0. These girls never gave up. They never let down.”

Messalonskee also drew inspiration – as it has for two years – in remembering and honoring a former teammate, Cassidy Charette, who died in a hayride accident in the fall of 2014. Charette would have been a senior this year.

“We always play for Cass, shine on for Cass. She’s just always in our hearts and looking down on us,” Turner said.

Lauren Pickett scored for Messalonskee with 7:17 to play and Turner (two goals, three assists) converted a pass from Lydia Dexter (three goals, one assist) to cut the deficit to 4-2 at halftime.

Massabesic still led 6-3 with 12:09 to play after Skylar Renaud popped in a goal from Morgan Pike.

Advertisement

From there the Mustangs fell prey to forced offensive play that resulted in too many turnovers.

Dexter scored after catching a Turner pass that just got over Madison Drain’s outstretched stick with 8:55 remaining.

Possibly refreshed after serving a two-minute penalty, Turner rushed the ball the length of the field and scored with 4:11 left to cut the margin to 6-5. Dexter tied it with a free-position goal with 1:50 to play.

Massabesic (14-2) had three shots in the last 30 seconds of regulation, one by DiMastrantonio that hit the crossbar with a fraction of a second remaining.

“We had some opportunities,” Massabesic Coach Brooks Bowen said. “I think (DiMastrantonio’s shot) would have been in before the buzzer. I think it would have counted had it gone in.

“I think we’re going to look back and say there were a lot of woulda, coulda, shouldas that just didn’t seem to bounce our way.”


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.