Hawks fly past Gulls field hockey, 2-1

OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Justine Ruhlin’s goal in overtime gave Old Orchard Beach’s seniors a rude sendoff, as Sacopee Valley defeated the Seagulls, 2-1, Wednesday afternoon.

The contest was the final regular season home game for five Old Orchard Beach seniors: Molly Anderson, Samantha Blake, Chelsea DeRepentigny as well as captains Annabelle Frenette and Leah Kaliher.

Old Orchard Beach had the majority of the offensive opportunities in the first half of play, including nine penalty corners, but could not capitalize.

Sacopee Valley, taking advantage of their few opportunities, scored the first goal of the game midway through the first half. Ally Allard, among a cluster of players, poked the ball past Gulls goalie Ari Bouchard, giving the Hawks a 1-0 lead going into halftime.

Old Orchard Beach continued to keep the pressure on Sacopee Valley in the second half, but still could not seem to make any progress toward the Sacopee net.

That is, until less than three minutes to go in the game. Frenette moved the ball down the field and smacked the ball across the circle and off of the post of the Sacopee goal. Anderson, waiting next to the post, rebounded the ball off the post and knocked it into the goal, tying the game 1-1, sending the contest into overtime.

Ruhlin’s goal came quickly into overtime, as she poked the ball past Bouchard for the game-ending score.

“I’m very proud of our team,” Ruhlin said. “OOB brought their A-game.”

Both the Gulls and Sacopee Valley had similar records coming into the game, with the Hawks (8-3-2) holding onto the sixth place position in the Maine Principal Association Heal Point standings, while the Gulls (7-5-1) were in seventh place.

Ruhlin said the game was important as in regards to playoff positioning.

“This is a major win,” Ruhlin said. “We have been talking about this game all week long to get in the playoffs.”

Old Orchard Beach coach Carolyn Mehlman said mistakes led to the Gulls loss.

“With us in seventh place and Sacopee Valley hovering in sixth, we needed to win this game to move up in the standings,” Mehlman said. “Although we had the ball in the Hawks’ end for most of the first half and had a 9-1 advantage in corners, we made too many mistakes.”

While the loss does not knock Old Orchard Beach out of the Class C playoffs, it could possibly decide who the team plays in the first round. With their record, Mehlman said the Gulls may have to play against the top team in Class C West, Telstar Regional High School (13-0), which would mean the team would have to take the two hour bus ride to Bethel to play against the Rebels.

Old Orchard Beach finishes its regular season on the road Friday afternoon against Gray-New Gloucester.