WINTHROP — Winning 25 games since the start of last season is reason enough to be confident. But the Winthrop field hockey team is cautious about overconfidence, even when playing an opponent its beaten twice this season.
Not to worry. The Ramblers cruised to a 7-1 win against No. 7 seeded Boothbay in an Eastern Maine Class C quarterfinal game Tuesday. No. 2 Winthrop (13-1-1) will play at home in a semifinal game Saturday while Boothbay finishes its season at 3-12-0.
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The Ramblers controlled the field and every statistical category. They outshot the Seahawks 18-1 and held a 9-1 advantage in penalty corners. Lauren Kaiser scored three goals, all in the second half, while Mary Claire Blanchard scored two and Cat Ouellette and Rachel Ingram one apiece.
“Our skill level has always been good,” Blanchard said. “But our skill level this year is the highest it’s ever been. Especially toward the end of the season, we’ve clicked as a team.”
The Ramblers clicked from the opening whistle, rarely letting the Seahawks out of their own end of the field. Senior Shauna Carlson controlled much of the play at midfield, continually pushing the ball ahead to her speedy forwards Blanchard, Kaiser and Ingram.
Ingram, who led the team in scoring with 15 goals this season, put the Ramblers on the board a little over nine minutes into the game when she broke free from midfield. Boothbay goalie Madison McCarthy (nine saves) made the initial save but Ingram secured the rebound and put it in the cage. Ouellette knocked in a rebound six minutes later before feeding Blanchard with a nice crossing pass to make it 3-0 going into the half. The Ramblers didn’t let up at all in the second half.
“What we remember was last year it was opening round and it was with them and it was 3-2,” Winthrop coach Sharon Coulton said.
Winthrop increased its lead to 6-0 with the first three goals of the second half. Kaiser scored her 12th of the season on a rebound then Blanchard took a cross from Carlson to make it 5-0. Kaiser sandwiched her final two goals around a score by the Seahawks. Sarah Caron broke the shutout after Alexandra Clarke made a nice run down the left side and feed her with a perfect pass to the right of Winthrop goalie Alyssa Arsenault. It was Boothbay’s only shot of the game.
The Ramblers graduated two seniors from the team that lost in the state championship game last fall, but have added two who didn’t play last year in Ouellette, a junior, and senior defender Quanah Cummings.
“They have made a big difference,” Coulton said. “(Quanah) had a super game today, and Cat’s very consistent getting in on the scoring. They’re speedy and they have good drives.”
Gary Hawkins — 621-5638
ghawkins@centralmaine.com
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