Field hockey: Young Winthrop rolling along in win over Messalonskee

Winthrop’s Izzy Folsom, left, and Messalsonkee’s Payton Alexander go after a ball during a field hockey game Wednesday in Winthrop. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

WINTHROP — On Monday, the Messalonskee field hockey team upset Skowhegan, the defending Class A champion.

On Wednesday, it was Winthrop’s turn to pull the upset.

Led by two goals from junior midfielder Madeline Wagner, the Ramblers — the defending Class C champion — beat Class A Messalonskee 2-0 at Kelsey Ann Stoneton Memorial Field.

“It’s amazing,” Wagner said. “It was a really challenging game, and we knew it was going to be coming into it. I’m just proud of the team and how they stepped up to get this win.”

The win continues a strong start for the Ramblers (5-0), who are currently the No. 1 seed in Class C South despite a large amount of youth in their starting lineup. Winthrop has outscored opponents by a 23-2 margin in its five games, posting three shutouts.

“We have a young, young team,” said Winthrop head coach Melissa Perkins. “I start eight sophomore and freshman (players). That’s pretty impressive of them. Our goalie (Brynn Stubbert) has never been a goalie before, and she stood on her head today.”

Wagner, Winthrop’s leading scorer, put the Ramblers up early, putting the ball in the back of the cage with 6:28 remaining in the first quarter. She added the second with 9:33 left in the third quarter, nearly going coast-to-coast on the grass surface, with plenty of available space, to put the Ramblers up 2-0.

“(The space opened) and I didn’t have much time to think about it,” Wagner said. “I just wanted to get to the cage as quick as I possibly could and got it in.”

Messalonskee (3-2) — which entered the game as the No. 2 seed in Class A North and upset Skowhegan 2-1 on Monday night — outshot Winthrop 4-1 and had a 9-0 advantage in penalty corners in the second half.

“We really tried to possess the ball the best we could, we just really couldn’t finish into the back of the goal cage,” said Messalonskee assistant coach Caitlyn Poulin, who filled in for head coach Katie Brann, who was out due to illness. “That was really our biggest obstacle today. But they had some great passing opportunities and they worked so well on the grass, because we didn’t even get the chance to practice on grass before we played today.”

The Eagles’ closest scoring opportunity came with 2:20 left in the game, when senior midfielder Payton Alexander was awarded a penalty stroke. But Stubbert knocked the shot down, helping to secure the shutout.

“(Perkins) has been preaching defense at practice lately,” Wagner said. “I’m really proud of how we stepped up and incorporated that into the game. We have a lot of young and new players, but they didn’t let their inexperience show. I think everyone tried their best and did excellent.”

“We knew our game was going to be a game of runs, and that we were going to play a very defensive game,” Perkins said. “That’s not as typical as we usually play; we usually come out firing. But we knew we had to drop and play a defensive game and that it would be a game of runs, and our two goals were great runs.”

The game was likely the final game on grass for the Ramblers, who expect to be playing on their new turf field on Saturday morning against Mountain Valley Conference rival Lisbon.

“We’ve transitioned pretty well throughout (the years) on turf,” Perkins said. “We’re pretty comfortable playing on turf and excited to take away some of those weird bounces (on grass).”