PORTLAND — Messalonskee girls lacrosse coach Ashley Pullen, along with players Brooke Quirion and Lydia Dexter, admitted she had not seen a player like Marshwood’s Lindsey Poirier this season.

The Hawks’ senior midfielder put on a show Saturday at Fitzpatrick Stadium, as she scored seven goals and assisted on another to lead Marshwood (13-3) to a 13-5 victory over the Eagles in the Class A championship. Poirier finished her career with 195 goals in leading the Hawks to their first-ever state title in girls lacrosse.

“She is hands down the best player we’ve seen,” Pullen said. “I had watched her play so I knew she was good and we tried to be ready for her, but when a player is that good and that tall and that big and that fast there’s only so much you can do.”

Reagan Nichols added three goals and two assists for Marshwood — who led 8-1 at halftime — while Korinne Bohunsky scored twice and Hannah Costin once. Ally Tuner had a pair of goals to pace Messalonskee (14-2), while India Languet, Nathalie St. Pierre and Dexter each scored once.

After winning the opening draw, it was apparent Messalonskee wanted to slow the pace of the game as much as possible as they possessed the ball for nearly all of the contest’s first four minutes. In that time, though, the Eagles struggled to get a shot off as the Hawks’ vaunted defense lived up to their reputation. Marshwood had given up just six goals in three playoff games prior to Saturday.

“When you have a defense like that that can limit the attack’s opportunities as much as they did then you’re going to have a hard time,” Pullen said. “I knew we were going to have to try to keep the score low and try to possess as much as possible, but it’s hard when you get in a hole early too.”

After an Eagles’ turnover Marshwood was quick to put Messalonskee in an early deficit, as the Hawks raced down the field and got a goal from Poirier, assisted by Hannah Costin, with 20:27 remaining in the first half.

“They possessed and they held the ball very well,” Marshwood coach Bernie Marvin said. “We can’t score without the ball. They made us play their game for a few minutes.

“If my goalie didn’t have a few saves, and I think if we had a few quick turnovers it really could have been a different game.”

The lead grew to 3-0 before Messalonskee finally got on the board on a goal from freshman Ally Turner with 16:23 left in the half, but the score ultimately did little to slow Poirier and the Hawks.

In the final 10 minutes of the half Poirier scored three of her team’s final four goals to give Marshwood a commanding 8-1 advantage.

“She’s really good. We knew she was going to be a good player,” Quirion said. “We tried to get her marked up, but we were just getting beat down the field and our players were getting tired. We just tried our best.”

Marshwood extended its lead to 12-1 by the midpoint of the second half before the Eagles found their footing at the offensive end. Languet opened a stretch of four goals in five minutes for Messalonskee to cut the deficit to 12-5, but ultimately Marshwood’s lead proved too great to overcome.

“There’s only so much you can do. The better team won in this case,” Dexter said. “We both worked hard but they obviously have better fundamentals. We’ll work on it. Hopefully, we’ll be here next year.”

Given what the Eagles return, they should have good shot at repeating as Eastern A champs. Quirion and Calla Balboni are the team’s only seniors, and half of Messalonskee’s players are either freshmen or sophomores.

“I told the girls to hold their heads high and be proud of everything that they have accomplished,” Pullen said. “We’ve never won an Eastern Maine championship and we have a young team.

“I’m very proud and I couldn’t have asked them to play any better or any harder in this game.”

Evan Crawley – 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley

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