Field hockey: Lewiston provides a tough test for Messalonskee in season finale

LEWISTON — Lewiston field hockey coach Jenessa Talarico said the Blue Devils are made up of a resilient bunch of players.

In their final game of the season, they made Messalonskee work for each goal of its 3-0 victory at Don Roux Field.

“(The players knew) win, lose, we aren’t making the playoffs,” Talarico said. “We had nothing to lose, it was the seniors’ last game — let’s go out there and play hard for the seniors. They did that.”

Messalonskee coach Katie Brann said the Blue Devils made things difficult for the Eagles.

“Lewiston played really hard; you could see they were fighting for their seniors tonight,” Brann said. “We did our best against them, but I am really impressed with how Lewiston played tonight.”

Brann said Lewiston stepped up and challenged the Eagles on 50-50 balls.

Talarico said the Devils are losing two players from the starting lineup, goalie Kim McLaughlin and defender Julie Perkins. The hope for the returning players is to work on the details before next season.

“Just (improve) on the little things and stick skills in general,” Talarico said. “We lost a lot of close games this season, and it really comes down to the little things of being calm under pressure and the stick skills. If we do that in the offseason, they will come ready to go next year.”

Messalonskee’s (10-3) first goal of the game was its first of the week, after a 4-0 loss to Oxford Hills on Monday and a 3-0 loss to Skowhegan on Wednesday. Before Friday’s game, the last time the Eagles scored was in a 1-0 win against Bangor on Oct. 5.

Senior Isabel Culver put the Eagles up 1-0 early in the opening quarter Friday.

“It has been a long week, very challenging, it was nice to put some (shots) in the back of the net,” Brann said.

Lewiston (2-12) flipped the field later in the first quarter and put two shots on goal, but Messalonskee goalie Nealey Dillon stopped both shots.

The Blue Devils maintained the momentum by controlling possession in early the second quarter but had few chances to put the ball towards the cage while in the circle.

“They definitely didn’t give up; they had some good looks. Unfortunately, they didn’t hit the back of the net,” Talarico said. “But I do think they had some great opportunities against a very good defense.”

Messalonskee started to regain possession in the middle of the second quarter, and sophomore forward Chloe Michaud fired a shot past McLaughlin for a 2-0 lead.

Michaud said the Eagles did a good job communicating and that lead to some of the goals.

“We made sure to talk to each other constantly, and we made sure to spread out (on the field) and cut (to the ball),” Michaud said.

Lewiston had an opportunity with a minute remaining in the second quarter but the ball went out of bounds after it went into the circle.

Alyson Violette jammed the ball into the goal, extending the Eagles’ lead to 3-0 with about five minutes remaining in the third quarter. It came off Messalonskee’s third consecutive penalty corner.

Messalonskee likes to hit its opponents with a balanced attack, as evidenced by the three different scorers Friday.

“Our scoring has been really balanced this year, so we have a lot of different threats up there (playing forward),” Brann said.

The Blue Devils started the fourth quarter with three consecutive corners of their own but only managed one shot on goal in that sequence.

Lewiston had a shot go wide with under three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

“I kept relaying to them: Don’t give up; it’s the last game of the season — play hard to the final whistle,” Talarico said. “Leave on a good note, not on a negative note, and they didn’t let anymore (goals in during the fourth quarter). They did their job in that sense.”