Linda Levesque’s girls lacrosse team has a rivalry type of week, taking on the Dragons Saturday at Hyde School. But, up first was Tuesday’s trip to Mt. Ararat to take on the Eagles.
But, the rivalry between the Eagles and Shipbuilders was not lost on Mt. Ararat leader Sam Chard and long-time coach Levesque.
“They are in our neighborhood, played in a state championship not too long, and everything that we prepped for is what they did — fast, crossing in transition, doubling everywhere — and it is disappointing to not be able to put the ball in the goal,” said Levesque, whose squad is 3-4 and hosts Lincoln Academy on Thursday.
“Morse is a good team with some good players and a good coach,” said Chard, whose Eagles return to the field tonight at home against Lewiston, host Brunswick on Thursday, and visit Mountain Valley Saturday. “It was important that we win today, considering it was a rivalry game and we have four games in five days. I love this rivalry. It is always exciting to play and to get pumped up for it. It doesn’t matter what class we are in.”
Patience was the key to Mt. Ararat’s attack. The Eagles controlled possession throughout, keeping the ball away from the Morse offense, led by Sadia Crosby, who still managed a game-high five goals.
“Morse pressured us a lot, and we found open players,” said Mt. Ararat forward Carly Raymond, who had three goals and two assists.
Eagles lead
Goals by Sierra Gilley and Raymond staked Mt. Ararat to a quick 2-0 lead, and Gilley and Rebecca Schuman answered Crosby’s first goal for a 4-1 Eagles edge with 13:01 remaining until halftime.
The Shipbuilders pressured the Mt. Ararat goal, but Eagles netminder Bailey Sullivan was tough, turning away seven shots in the first half, while Morse counterpart Cat Sener made six of her eight saves in the opening frame.
Morse made a push, getting a pair of goals from Crosby 1:13 apart to close to 4-3.
Mt. Ararat changed tactics, holding the ball for long possessions before finding the open shot.
Gilley found Sydni Clark cutting to the net for a 5-3 Eagles edge, and Raymond finished off a setup from Katie Labbay for a 6-3 halftime lead.
“Patience made a big difference today, and they played with composure, considering the last game we had 19 turnovers (a 9-8 loss to Cony) when we rushed things,” said Chard. “We have kids that can shoot and pass, and today our goal was to settle it down and let our passing do the talking.”
“For most of us, we like to rush it down there quick, but we need to settle it down to have success,” said Raymond.
Mt. Ararat continued its run to open the second half, getting a goal each from Erin Tome and Labbay for an 8-3 lead.
Morse made one last push as Crosby scored two more goals to get the Shipbuilders to 8-5, but Gilley (three goals, two assists) and Raymond finished off five-point days with a goal each before Grace Koslosky closed the scoring for Morse with three seconds remaining.
With Lincoln Academy and Brunswick left on the slate this week, Levesque will look for her team to rebound quickly.
“We try to get better every single day, and we have,” said Levesque. “We need to be quick and fast, move the ball, something we will practice. We are young, but it is still disappointing today. We just didn’t have it.”
“They are a good team, and we played defense hard and did a good job against them,” said Crosby. “It is always fun to play our local teams, those Class A teams. I played against these teams as a freshman and sophomore, and it is still fun to take them on.”
“It is great to still play them, just like Brunswick, and it is a rival and you know that you have to play good when we play a rival,” said Raymond. “It is pressure, knowing that we can’t let down.”
Mt. Ararat held a slim 23-21 shots advantage, while Morse finished with a 9-8 edge in draw controls. Hannah Rossetti picked up a game-high eight groundballs for the Shipbuilders, with three each coming from Isabelle Paulus, Sophie Sreden and Emma Rossetti.
Sullivan turned aside nine shots in the Mt. Ararat goal, and Gilley picked up a teamhigh seven groundballs, Labbay five groundballs, and three each coming from Kaitlin Volk, Connie Hodge and Alison Nolan.
Mt. Ararat 10, Morse 6
At Topsham
Morse — 3 3 — 6
Mt. Ararat — 6 4 — 10
Goals — (Mo) Sadia Crosby 5, Grace
Koslosky; (MA) Sierra Gilley 3, Carly Raymond 3, Erin Tome, Rebecca Schuman,
Katie Labbay, Sydni Clark.
Assists — (Mo) Isabelle Paulus, Ruth
Nadeau; (MA) Katie Labbay 2, Erin Tome,
Carly Raymond 2, Sierra Gilley 2.
Shots — Mt. Ararat, 23-21.
Saves — (Mo) Cat Sener 8; (MA) Bailey
Sullivan 9.
Draw controls — Morse, 9-8.
Records — Mt. Ararat 4-3 Morse 3-4.
Up next for Morse — Thursday at home
against Lincoln Academy.
Up next for Mt. Ararat — Tonight at
home against Lewiston.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less