WATERVILLE — Did anybody expect anything other than a one-goal game?
The girls lacrosse rivalry between Cony and Messalonskee was one of the best in Maine this spring. It reached its natural conclusion Saturday evening, when Messalonskee held on for a 10-9 victory in an Eastern A semifinal at Thomas College.
Additional Images
It was the fourth time the teams have met this season, and while Messalonskee won three of those games, the four contests were decided by a total of five goals.
“It’s hard, with all the seniors that we have and all the effort that they’ve put in over the last four years,” Cony coach Gretchen Livingston said. “Messalonskee, obviously, is a great team. This is the hugest rivalry I’ve ever been a part of as a coach.”
“It’s really pretty special,” Messalonskee coach Ashley Pullen said. “I used to coach the Maranacook club, and we played each other on a makeshift field out at Camp KV in Readfield, when lacrosse was so new to this area. Knowing that we have seen the game of lacrosse grow in central Maine from where it was 10 years ago to now, that, for us, I know, is a pretty special thing.”
No. 2 Messalonskee (11-3), which has won by one goal in four of its last five games, moves on to the Eastern A final against No. 1 Cheverus. That game will be Wednesday, at a time and site to be determined. No. 3 Cony finishes at 10-4.
Cony jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Emily Quirion, but lost Hayley Quirion to an ankle injury shortly afterward. Messalonskee responded with the next five goals. Two came from Ally Fischang, and the fifth, by Nathalie St. Pierre, came with 1.9 seconds left in the half for a 5-2 edge at the break.
Hayley Quirion was back for the second half and helped turn this into a Cony-Messalonskee game again. Bayleigh Logan scored three quick goals — two off Quirion’s passes — and the game was tied 5-5. Cony goalie Izzy Eames denied Fischang a third goal by swiping a shot off the goal line, and when the Eagles left Cony’s Hilary Tyler uncovered, she easily converted a pass from Emily Quirion to put Cony on top, 6-5. Just 11 seconds after that, Hayley Quirion sent one home, and now it was Cony who had scored five consecutive goals for a 7-5 lead.
“I’m so proud of them,” Livingston said. “When Hayley Quirion goes down — who leads our team in every stat except for goals — you could take a hit and you can just say, ‘We’re done.’ And the way that we held them close for the half, and start the second half the way we did … She gave it all, and she didn’t have an ankle to stand on, really.”
With 18:32 to go, the Eagles were definitely teetering, and while they’re used to playing from behind, their reaction to falling behind by two goals looked like a big factor in retrospect. St. Pierre scored off a pass from Fischang to make it 7-6 Cony only 16 seconds after Quirion’s goal.
“Definitely skills and speed are important. They win games,” Messalonskee midfielder Kristen Kern said. “But I think what helped us a lot was our composure, and also discipline. Discipline on offense and defense — that saved us this game.”
What also helped was that Kern began winning draw controls. Messalonskee won four of the last five draws in the game, and all of those possessions were important.
“That’s the reason we ended up winning the game,” Pullen said.
Hayley Quirion gave Cony an 8-6 lead, and after winning the ensuing draw the Rams tried to milk the clock. They held the ball for nearly three minutes, but the Eagles came up with a steal and Messalonskee’s Sydney Gagne and Mikayla Turner scored 16 seconds apart to knot the score at 8-8.
Messalonskee went ahead on St. Pierre’s free position shot goal with 7:45 remaining, and then played keep-away for more than four minutes. St. Pierre, Turner, Fischang, Gagne, Kern, India Languet and Lucy Guarnieri all took turns carrying the ball. The possession began with 6:20 to play, and ended with Turners’s goal at 2:11.
“The key was possession,” St. Pierre said. “If you have the ball, then the other team can’t score. I think we worked really hard all week to try to focus on how on how we will maintain possession, and we worked really well this game to keep it.”
Down 10-8, the Rams lost the draw, but got within a goal when Emily Quirion converted a free position shot with just 27.3 seconds to go. The draw control that followed went straight up in the air, and Kern won the battle. Cony didn’t regain possession until only 8.3 seconds remained, and they had too far to go.
“It was kind of nerve-wracking,” Kern said. “Our coach stresses a lot how important draw control and possession is. I knew I had Ally and Mikayla behind me. They always have my back on those. They’re fantastic. I wasn’t confident like ‘I knew I was going to get it’ but I felt good about it.”
Messalonskee and Cheverus met once this season, with Cheverus winning 17-6 on May 24.
“I already told them, I think one of our biggest obstacles going into this game is going to be our mental game, having lost big to a team,” Pullen said. “Already, they’re fired up. They’re psyched to play, which I love.”
Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243
Send questions/comments to the editors.
