The 2018 high school field hockey season started with a thud for Julie Petrie’s Lisbon Greyhounds.

Three one-sided losses had the Lisbon coach looking for answers.

Three games later, a formation change has led to a three-game winning streak, with the Greyhounds

capturing a 3-0 Mountain Valley Conference victory over Hall-Dale on Friday.

“We were not moving, so we are doing something completely different and added more shape by moving people around,” Petrie said. “We weren’t scoring, but we are now, which is nice.”

Lisbon used its penalty corner opportunities to score two of its goals.

“We work on penalty corners a lot, and we have some hard hitters and work on touches, touches, touches,” said Petrie after her Greyhounds improved to 3-3 and host Winthrop today (4 p.m.).

“They definitely looked stronger on their corners and something that we will have to work on moving forward,” said Hall-Dale (0-6) coach Angela Corbin.

The game began with Lisbon attacking the Hall-Dale defense. The pressure paid off as Sydney Plourde inserted a pass to Mallory Fairbanks on a penalty corner, with Fairbanks blasting a shot past Bulldogs netminder Mia Rollins for a 1-0 lead 4:56 into the contest.

“Mallory and I connect, but anyone on the circle can shoot it, which makes it hard to defend. We are very diverse on the penalty,” said Plourde of her team’s opening goal.

Lisbon continued to press, with Hall-Dale countering behind the play of Carly Corbin and Sierra Godbout.

On a Lisbon counterattack, Plourde centered a pass to hard-charging Amelia Mooney for a two-goal lead with 9:44 left until halftime.

“I saw (Mooney) running, something that we emphasize on running to the goal, and she was right there to put it in,”

Ploude said of her second assist.

“Sydney knows she can never take a break and is all over the field, offensive and defensive, and has the ability to distribute,” Petrie said of Plourde.

Hall-Dale found some offense late in the first half. Lisbon keeper Rebecca Budesheim made three saves to keep the Bulldogs off the board.

“It was really a back and forth game,” said Angela Corbin, who discussed her team’s lack of varsity experience. “I hate to sound like a broken record, but we have one senior and seven freshmen, with a few in-between, so we’re still a little green in some areas. Finishing is one of them that we’re struggling with. When it comes to finishing, we are not there 100 percent yet.”

Second half

Petrie reminded her squad of the last Lisbon contest, where the Greyhounds let a two-goal lead evaporate against Boothbay, a game Lisbon went on to win, 4-3.

On Friday, the Greyhounds used possession in keeping the Bulldogs in check, as Lisbon held a 10-1 second-half shot advantage, with Hall-Dale’s few chances coming on the penalty corner, with the Bulldogs holding a slight 7-6 edge on Lisbon in the game.

“We’ve been focusing on the basics, reiterating recovering, defense, positioning. Corners haven’t been something we have focused on yet,” Angela Corbin said.

Lisbon made it a 3-0 contest with 22:58 remaining as Peyton Gosselin tipped home a Fairbanks shot, another goal for the Greyhounds off a penalty corner.

Rollins remained aggressive in the Hall-Dale cage, finishing with 16 saves on 19 Lisbon shots. Budesheim turned away all four Bulldog shots on her goal, with her defense of Emma Willey, Timber Mattson and Natalie Scott clearing most dangerous chances away from the Lisbon net.