GARDINER — It may have just been some proverbial offensive rust, but goals were at a premium Wednesday afternoon in the regular season opener for the Morse and Gardiner field hockey teams.
Dylan Barr of Morse scored her second goal of the game just over three minutes into the fourth quarter to help lift the Shipbuilders to a 2-1 victory. Grace Hawkes made 11 saves to earn the victory.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Grace Hawkes in goal and our defense in front of her,” said Morse head coach Kerri Reno. “She was on fire. I’m so proud of the way she played.”
Added Hawkes, a senior: “I’m pretty proud of us and the way I played. The last time we played these guys the final score was not in our favor. That just shows the work that we’ve put in leading up to this point.”
The biggest difference for Morse was its defense. Led by senior Haley Kirkpatrick at sweeper and Kennedy St. Pierre at defensive midfielder, Gardiner struggled to convert its chances.
“I liked the way our offense was flowing, we just couldn’t finish on goal,” said Gardiner head coach Sharon Gallant. “Credit to them and their keeper, they definitely were solid back there despite our chances.”
Despite holding possession for a majority of the game and out-shooting Morse 12-4, Gardiner had limited scoring chances. When the Tigers found a rare opportunity to put a hard shot on net, St. Pierre and Hawkes were there to turn them away.
“That was a lot of heart,” said St. Pierre, a senior who blocked five shots and several more passes. “It’s really nice to see the team come together in the first game.”
St. Pierre added that in past years it’s taken the Shipbuilders a few games to find their footing. That wasn’t the case Wednesday.
“It’s harder to get our momentum going when we start the year slowly,” St. Pierre said. “Coming out strong will hopefully generate a snowball effect and we can keep going off of this win.”
Gallant said she saw some positives Wednesday.
Morse’s Kennedy St. Pierre, left, tries to get past Gardiner’s Brianna Smith, top, and Piper Lavoie, right, during a field hockey game Wednesday in Gardiner. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“I’m pretty happy with how we played,” said Gallant. “We’re super young and still have a long way to go. This kind of game was a good experience for them.”
Gardiner had 16 penalty corners.
“That’s definitely something we can take away from today,” said Gardiner senior captain Piper Lavoie. “We’re still very young with a lot of new faces, it’ll come along as we play more competitive games like we did today.”
After 27 minutes came and went with few scoring chances, Barr opened the scoring when she grabbed a rebound and scored after a save by Gardiner goalie Grace Deering.
Morse took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Gardiner came out firing in the third and tied the game at 1-1 when freshman Taryn Nichols made a nice move around Kirkpatrick and fired a shot into the left corner of the cage.
Barr’s goal in the early fourth made it 2-1 for good.
“We played how we want to play today,” said Reno. “It wasn’t perfect, but we have a lot to go off of from this type of performance.”
Deering finished with six saves.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
