WATERVILLE — What do you dream about?
If you’re a field hockey player, maybe you’ve dreamed about playing for a dynasty like Skowhegan. Maybe, someday, you’ll dream of being Kristen Murray.
Murray not only scored the goal that won the Class A state championship, she did it with 2.1 seconds left in the final game of her high school career. Her goal broke Skowhegan’s five-year monopoly on the state title, as Scarborough pulled out a 1-0 victory on Saturday morning at Thomas College.
“Everybody dreams of ending their senior year with the state championship-winning goal,” Murray said. “It’s magical. It really doesn’t matter who scores the goals as long as we can get the ball in the net. We played as a team, and we played like champions today.”
The game was scoreless with 2:25 remaining in the second half when Scarborough’s Abby Walker was issued a green card for a five-yard violation. The Red Storm had been issued multiple warnings for not giving Skowhegan five yards on a self start. Walker’s infraction meant Scarborough would be short-handed for two minutes, but the Red Storm refused to sit back and play for overtime.
“No, you definitely play the whole game the way it is,” Scarborough coach Kerry Mariello said. “A man down, you make adjustments. You’ve just got to accept it for what it is, and persevere and that’s what we did.”
Scarborough earned a penalty corner with less than a minute to play, then another one right after.
“Player down, we just ran a corner that didn’t involve her,” Mariello said. “A corner is run with the numbers up anyway. So we just ran kind of an alternative-type of play, and someone got a hold of it. It was great.”
Murray was the one who secured it, and her shot appeared to go off a Skowhegan defender on the goal line and into the cage for an unbelievable ending.
“There was just a fumble in the circle,” Murray said. “We were all working hard. The ball popped up, and I just hit it as hard as I could.”
Almost as shocking as the ending was that Skowhegan did not have a penalty corner during the entire first half. Both teams have exceptional offensive talent but could not get through the opposing defensive walls.
The Indians had three corners in the second half. On two of them, Scarborough flier Kaitlin Prince raced out and blew up the play before Skowhegan could even attempt a shot.
“She’s been phenomenal all year,” Mariello said. “The defense definitely hasn’t gotten the credit it’s deserved until the playoff season, these kind of games. Defense wins you championships, and they did it for us.”
“We had the best game we’ve ever had,” Murray said. “Our defense — Oh my God! — that was the best they’ve ever played, ever. As a team, I don’t think we could have worked better.”
Skowhegan’s other corner was the most controversial play of the game. The Indians inserted the ball and Renee Wright brought the ball to around the edge of the circle. Skowhegan scored on the play, with 21:15 to go, but the officials ruled the Indians had never taken the ball out of the circle. By rule, the ball must leave the circle on a penalty corner.
When interviewed after the game, Wright said she was confident the ball in fact had been outside the circle, and Skowhegan coach Paula Doughty agreed.
“That was horrible,” Doughty said. “I think everything was going well, but when she called the goal back, that was a tough one. We watched the monitor. The monitor showed it coming out of the circle. There’s nothing you can do. When an official makes the call, the official makes the call.”
Including Saturday’s game, the Indians have won 12 state championships in 14 years. They won the regional title this season while using four different goalies and having only four seniors on their roster.
“Even today, Lauren (LeBlanc), her back was bad. She could barely play,” Doughty said. “It was one of those seasons where everything that could go wrong did go wrong. We’ve got a KVAC championship and an Eastern Maine championship under those circumstances. It wasn’t all that bad.”
In 2009, Scarborough defeated Skowhegan in overtime. On Saturday, the Indians thought they should have had overtime.
“It’s heart-breaking,” Doughty said. “When she disallowed that goal, it just sort of deflated them. At that point, you’ve just got to say, ‘It is what it is,’ and you’ve got to keep going. But it was obvious after that, that the momentum changed for us. And I don’t think we ever got it back again.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
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.