NEWPORT — Dives. Kicks. Leaps.

An acrobatic routine? No, just a description of some of the saves Nokomis goalie Eliya Drummond made Tuesday.

Drummond, a junior, made 20 saves, many of them spectacular, as Nokomis and Cony played to a scoreless draw in a late-season showdown between Class B North field hockey contenders at Nokomis Regional High.

The teams’ records (10-1-1) are identical to the point where their lone loss came to the same team — first-place Belfast. The coaches also had identical reactions after another close tussle — they played a 1-1 draw two years ago — came to a close.

“It seems to be that way (intense) whenever we come here,” Cony coach Holly Daigle said with a laugh.

“We always have a great game when we play Cony,” Nokomis counterpart Shaunessy Saucier said. “We know they’re going to come at us and run to the ball so well.”

Drummond’s acrobatics ensured there would be no winner. After the teams played a low-key first quarter, Drummond seemed to get stronger as the game went on and Nokomis battled a Cony offense that had averaged 5.7 goals per game heading into Tuesday. Among the highlights:

• A kick save off Katelynn Dutil with 3 minutes left in the first half;
• A stop of an Abby Morrill fly ball midway through the third quarter, followed by a kick-save;
• A pair of diving stops early in the first overtime;
• A leaping pad save against Maci Freeman with just over 2 minutes left in the first OT;
• And finally, a pair of kick saves in the game’s final 10 seconds.

“Their goalie played out of her mind today,” Daigle said. “Whenever we met during a timeout or in between quarters on halves or overtimes, we just couldn’t think of things we needed to do any better. We just needed to finish. We did all that we could.

“I could not ask for one more thing from those girls that were on the field today. They played their hearts out. They had great looks, had great shots.”

It’s no wonder that after the game, Drummond bolted for the team concession stand for a postgame reward.

Cony’s Casey Monson left, keeps her eyes on the ball as Nokomis’ Alaina Donahue fields a pass during a Class B North field hockey game Tuesday in Newport. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“It was the most intense game we’ve had so far,” Drummond said outside the snack shack. “I was really scared at some points, but I just gave it everything I’ve got.

“I threw my whole body out there. I did everything I could.”

As Saucier pointed out, there was even more to Drummond’s performance than her kicks and dives.

“She did the little things, like she played the ball into space so she didn’t give second shots,” said Saucier, a former University of Maine standout. “She cleared the ball down the sideline so many times. She played so smart and kept her head and I’m so proud of her.”

Drummond had a pretty good supporting cast. Midfielder Madeline Roundy — who was honored with teammates Abbie Reynolds and Ava Lovely on senior day — was a pest all afternoon, swatting away Cony shots when not generating chances for the offense.

“She’s our senior captain and just an all-around competitor,” Saucier said. “She wants to be in every single play, which is was you need at center-mid. She made a lot of things happen today.”

Of course, Cony’s defense was no slouch, either. Rams goalie Avery Maxim made three saves, and her teammates made sure more shots didn’t approach the sophomore. Cony defender Hailey Johnson blocked the Warriors’ Aryanna Turner from charging downfield unchallenged with 5 minutes left in the second, and teammate Natalie Duke swept the ball away from an open cage with 3:40 left in the fourth.

Maxim, meanwhile, made a kick-save against Nokomis’ Myia SeeHusen in the second quarter. She then used her pads to stop Raegan King with a minute left in regulation.

“Our defense, game after game, has kind of been the unsung heroes,” Daigle said. “They make great stops in the backfield, they work really well together as a unit. Communication has been really good.”

Nokomis earned its eighth shutout of the season, while Cony blanked its seventh opponent.

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