BANGOR – The #8 Bangor field hockey team fought off a determined #9 Lewiston squad Saturday afternoon, under clear skies and sunshine, with a 3-2 win to advance in the Maine Principals’ Association 2019 Maine High School Field Hockey tournament.
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| Bangor's Claire Pellegrino, celebrates her goal with teammates, Madison Arno (6), Genevieve Sychterz (4), and Meaghan Caron (5). Photo by Ron Hawkes) |
Bangor goes to 7-8-0, while Lewiston finishes at 4-10-1 record.
Bangor got off to a quick start in this one with a pair of goals in under 10 minutes of play. Kaylee Perkins got the ball in front of the cage and nailed a perfect shot for the goal. Perkins goal was assisted by Meaghan Caron. That goal came at 21:30 with the second one coming 35 seconds later, this time Genevieve Sychterz scored on a nice shot, again from the stick of Caron.
Lewiston, while being back on its heels after the two goals from the Rams, got on the board at 7:01 when Charlotte Gastonguay found the back of the cage with an assist from Abby Chartier.
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| A beautiful day for a prelim playoff game of field hockey. Bangor won 3-2. (Photo by Ron Hawkes) |
Feeling like they needed an insurance goal, Clair Pellegrino hit a rocket from the top of the circle on a pass from Perkins, that banged the backboard of the cage surely putting a dent in it. That goal came at 26:10 in the second half giving the Rams a 3-1 lead.
Lewiston closed out the scoring with a goal at 8:58 from Alexis Freeman unassisted.
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| Bangor goalie, Mackenzie Morin has a huge fan!! Photo by Ron Hawkes) |
Both goalies in this game played very well as they both got hammered with shots. For Bangor Mackenzie Morin was outstanding with 10 saves on 16 shots for the win. Lewiston’s Cecilla Landry had 18 saves on 33 shots from the Rams.
Bangor held the advantage in penalty corners 8-4.
With the win, the Rams advance to the quarterfinals where they will travel to Skowhegan to take on the 14-0 #1 Skowhegan High School team. Bangor opened the season against Skowhegan falling 9-0.
How will the Rams handle Skowhegan? “It’s just another game, just another game,” said Bangor coach Kasey Danforth.
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| Bangor's Kaylee Perkins, left, returns the ball after scoring the game's first goal. She is with Meaghan Caron, assist on the goal and Kate Ruhlin. (Photo by Ron Hawkes) |
Practices have gone well for the Rams since and the girls look to be playing with confidence again. The team on the field today was not the same team that lost four in a row and five of the last six. Going into today’s game Coach Danforth felt very good about where her team was at.
“Awesome,” said Coach Danforth. “You can tell the energy the girls carry, they are more confident, more smiles, and great energy."
Bangor was fortunate to be in the playoffs after a strange four-game home losing streak and a loss on the road to a solid Oxford Hills. Bangor’s only win in the last six games of the season was against Brewer.
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| Bangor's Geneviene Sychterz (4), drives the ball past three Lewiston defenders and the keeper for the second goal of the game for the Rams. (Photo by Ron Hawkes) |
“I think we just needed to set some concrete goals of why we were here, “ said Coach Danforth. “Why are we here, how do we continue to play as a unit, as a team, connect our passes, communicate, and remember our goals.”
Today, the Rams remembered what they needed to remember and played like it was the last game of the season and they were not ready for it to be.
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| Lewiston's Charlotte Gastonguay returns the ball to midfield after scoring a goal in the first half of Saturday's game. (Photo by Ron Hawkes) |
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