SACO — There was plenty of history made at Thornton Academy’s Paul Hill Stadium, Wednesday night.
And yes, we said night.
Where previously only sunlight had illumined outdoor athletic tilts at Thornton, light towers, which rise high above the Hill Stadium artificial turf (and yes, we said artificial turf) shone down on the Golden Trojans field hockey squad as they battled Cheverus in the first-ever varsity contest held at the transformed facility.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, their weren’t enough firsts to change what played out as a 5-0 loss to the Stags.
That first win, for that matter, that first goal at their new home will have to come later.
“We definitely have some work to do,” said Thornton coach Lori Smith. “We need to talk. If we can get them to talk, it makes it so much easier.”
Cheverus, which plays its home games on grass, seemed better prepared to make the most of the faster turf surface.
In effect, the Stags took away Thornton’s home field advantage.
“We practiced on turf all week,” said Cheverus coach Amy McMullin. “The kids eat it up. They love it. The real test will be when we go back to grass.”
It took just 3:20 for the Stags’ Emily Rodrigue to score the first ever goal on the new field.
She got the second one, too, six minutes later.
Both were the result of precision ball control by Cheverus.
“You have to rely on bigger passes on turf,” said McMullin. “Not necessarily ”˜hit and hope’. You have to pretty much change the game so your spacing works.”
A chance for Thornton to pull back into contention late in the first half went awry when Lauren Russell’s try through a scramble was blocked before it could reach Cheverus starting goalie Libby DesRuisseaux.
Scoring opportunities were more scarce in the second half.
“We weren’t passing very well,” said Smith. “Everybody was nervous getting that first game in. (We had) the jitters.”
Cheverus put the game out of reach with three goals in the second half.
The first of those was netted by Stags’ captain Sarah LaQuerre, an Old Orchard Beach resident.
The Trojans will be idle until next Tuesday, when they’ll visit Windham.
— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com or follow on Twitter @DanHickling.
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