WATERVILLE — The Oak Hill field hockey team started quickly and finished strong at Bernatchez Field on the campus of Thomas College.
The Raiders scored in the early going in both halves Wednesday afternoon, remaining unbeaten with a 3-0 Mountain Valley Conference win over Winthrop.
Abby Asselin, Kiera Young and Maegan Sheehy all scored for the Raiders (5-0-0). Asselin scored less than four minutes into the first half, while Young’s goal came in the first minute of the second half to put Winthrop (3-1-1) on its heels.
“That really was the difference,” Oak Hill coach Betsy Gilbert said of the quick starts. “Winthrop was by far the best team we’ve played this season. It was a great, great game. A lot of teams play hit and hope, but with their skill set, they were a phenomenal team.”
After falling behind 2-0 on Young’s goal shortly after halftime, an open shot in front of the cage, Winthrop tried to battle back into the game. The Ramblers had seven penalty corners in the second half alone — but only two shots on cage — as their attack struggled to find success at times.
“It’s been a struggle of ours for two years now, putting it in the cage and finding those (goals),” Winthrop coach Jess Merrill said. “There’s no excuse to really not be executing. We had our opportunities, but we’ve got to capitalize on those. They did, and we didn’t. They executed and that was the difference.”
Winthrop goalie Corinna Coulton made six saves to keep the Ramblers in it, including a save on a Lexi Fuller penalty stroke after trapping the ball on her line.
Oak Hill put the game away when Sheehy scored with just under a minute left in the second half.
“Our defense was ruthless today. They really were the stars of the game for us,” Gilbert said.
So was midfielder Mercedes Pease, who set up Sheehy’s goal.
“She’s our playmaker,” Gilbert said of Pease. “She really keeps that ball in there (on the attack), and it makes a big difference.”
Although Oak Hill didn’t have the gaudy numbers it has been used to putting up this season, Gilbert was pleased with the team’s transition to its first game on turf this season.
“It’s a big transition, especially when none of the girls have been on it at all since the summer,” she said. “It’s a big thing to these kids. I think they did really well with it, and Winthrop is a great team. We really enjoy playing them.”
Merrill hopes the loss served as something of a wakeup call for her team.
“It’s about getting girls to play consistently every day,” Merrill said. “We’ve got targets on our backs and teams are going to come for us. They’re going to come out bringing their best, and we need to counter, counter early and execute. I think the girls know that.”
BOOTHBAY 4, HALL-DALE 0: Sydney Meader scored a pair of goals to lead the Seahawks to the MVC win in Farmingdale.
Kaylee McGee made 26 saves for Hall-Dale (0-5) in the loss.
Kayla Lewis and Chloe Arsenault also scored for Boothbay (4-1).
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