WATERVILLE — This winter, the finalists for the Miss Maine Field Hockey Award were Skowhegan’s Nicole Sevey and Jessie Skillings, Messalonskee’s Katie Bernatchez and Marissa Shaw of Nokomis. On Saturday, all of them were teammates.

The four standouts are all heading to Division I schools, and while Sevey won the award, the other three also had big contributions at the McNally Senior All-Star Field Hockey Game. Shaw and Skillings each scored a goal, and Bernatchez was named the East’s Most Valuable Player as the East pulled out a 3-2 victory at Colby College.

Additional Photos

ALL-STARS: Mikayla Fitzmaurice, left, of Skowhegan and the East battles for the ball with West’s Alice Sandborn of Lake Region and the West in the McNally Senior All-Star field hockey game Saturday at Colby College. The East defeated the West 3-2. Staff photo by Michael G. Seaman

DENIED: East goalie Maicee Gustin of Dexter makes a save against Sage Hennessy of Fryeburg in the McNally Senior All-Star field hockey game Saturday at Colby College. The East defeated the West 3-2. Staff photo by Mike Seamans

“We have a lot of great players going off to college, so we had a lot of pressure to come out and succeed today,” said Skillings, who scored the winning goal with 14:27 left in the second half off a pass from Leah Edmondson of Nokomis.

Winslow’s Michelle Greene had the East’s other goal. Greely’s Ceci Hodgkins and Thornton’s Morgan Ouellette-Foss scored the goals for the West.

The West’s MVP was Falmouth midfielder Megan Fortier, who will attend Colby this fall and plans to try out for the field hockey team. Skowhegan coach Paula Doughty, who coached the East with Winthrop’s Sharon Coulton and Belfast’s Allen Holmes, raved about Fortier a couple times during the game. At one point in the first half, Doughty asked Holmes, “Who is No. 4 on the West? She is good. I’d take her any day.”

As in past years, the West came out strong and got two penalty corners in the first four minutes. Then, just 4:20 into the game, Hodgkins stole a clearing pass in the circle and fired in a quick shot to give the West a 1-0 lead.

That lead didn’t even last seven minutes as Shaw poked in a shot after a scramble, with John Bapst’s Emily Tilton getting the assist. Three minutes after that, Tilton fed Greene for a goal and the East led 2-1.

North Yarmouth Academy’s Katie Cawley had one of the best individual plays of the day, stealing the ball from Skillings on a 1-on-1 breakaway with seven minutes left in the half. Ouellette-Foss scored from in close with 1:54 to go to make it a 2-2 game at the half.

The West carried that momentum into the second half, threatening multiple times only to be denied by Dexter goalie Maicee Gustin. After that, Bernatchez led a defense that kept the West away from the goal.

“I played sweep and center back and right back,” said Bernatchez, who will play this fall at Boston University. “I like to play center back most of the time, but I like to play anywhere.

“I was wishing they’d put me up on the front line and score,” Bernatchez added with a smile, “but I didn’t get my way up there.”

The winning goal came about a minute after Leavitt goalie Taylor Eells denied Skillings with a tough save. Skillings was open on the left side and banged a shot into the corner after getting a feed from Edmondson.

“Leah Edmondson sent a beautiful pass across the circle,” Skillings said. “I just saw an opening and in the corner and I took it. (The goalie) hung more to her right, so I had an opening in the left.”

Skillings graduated early from Skowhegan and has been taking classes at the University of Maine since January.

“It’s going very well,” Skillings said. “Being at college has really helped open my eyes on to where to play and how to play, and looking for the holes and openings. It made it a lot easier today.”

Most of the proceeds from the game will go to the Good Shepherd Food Bank, located in Auburn. The game was the centerpiece of the Maine Field Hockey Festival, and teams also brought loads of canned goods to donate directly to the food bank. Jeannine Paradis, treasurer of the Maine Field Hockey Association, said Saturday’s proceeds were around $3,200, up from about $2,000 last year.

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

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