FAIRFIELD — The Lawrence field hockey team is not sneaking up on anyone this season.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a four-goal first-half lead, and cruised to a 5-0 victory over Winslow on Tuesday afternoon.
Lawrence, now 8-0, stands alone atop the Class B North standings, the only undefeated team left in the conference. The Bulldogs have picked up victories during that stretch over programs such as Belfast, Cony, Maine Central Institute and now Winslow (3-1), the 2019 Class B champion.
“We always come into our games with the same kind of mindset for each team,” said Lawrence junior Hope Bouchard. “We don’t want to overlook anyone. Winslow is always a competitor, so we had to keep that in mind while playing them.”
Lawrence has outscored opponents by a 34-4 margin. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs used a variety of offensive weapons to get past the Black Raiders. Bouchard finished with two goals. Seniors Haylie Niles and Emily Hersey each had goals, and freshman Maddie Niles had a goal and two assists.
“We had a pretty good summer, and we were really strong as a team together,” Bouchard said. “So, I knew we were going to do pretty good this season if we kept working at it each practice, each day. It’s really paying off, all the stuff that we do in practice. We just have a lot of team chemistry, I think that’s important when we play.”
For Lawrence head coach Shawna Robinson, the key to the Bulldogs’ success is simple.
“It’s right there,” Robinson said as her team came together for a group hug. “They just like each other. Really, that’s it.”
Emily Hersey opened up the scoring on a rebound off a Maddie Niles shot to give Lawrence a 1-0 lead in the first quarter. The Bulldogs kept the scoring fast and furious in the second quarter, notching three goals – from Haylie Niles, Bouchard and Maddie Niles – to give Lawrence a 4-0 lead heading into halftime.
Lawrence’s Hope Bouchard, right, and Winslow’s Sabrina York battle for the ball during field hockey action Tuesday in Fairfield. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
“I’m really proud of the team,” Maddie Niles said. “We work together a lot, and the passing is great. We just have a great relationship.”
Lawrence stayed aggressive on the attack in the third quarter, and put the game away in the fourth, thanks to a hard shot from Bouchard that found its way into the goal for the final 5-0 score.
“We like (having multiple scorers) a lot,” Robinson said. “We’ve had problems in the past (in that area). Lawrence has always been strong defensively, but we’ve struggled a little bit offensively. I’ve set them up to be offensively aggressive. I don’t traditionally, I don’t play with a sweep. It’s just one more person to get in the way in the defensive circle. We don’t that. We put another option in the field to score. And I have total faith in my goalie Emma (Poulin)”.
Lawrence’s success is not a shock for Winslow head coach Mary Beth Bourgoin, who had coached some of the players as youngsters at the club level with the Maine Majestix.
“I’ve known they’ve had this core group of girls who have played together for a long time,” Bourgoin said. “I knew they were fast, I knew they were strong… That’s the beauty of girls playing together for so long, it’s seamless (on the field).
The game was the first for Winslow since beating Erskine Academy 9-0 at home on Sept. 8, as the team has been in quarantine. The Black Raiders played stronger as the game moved along, putting together their best effort in the fourth quarter.
“We’re in a situation where we don’t have fresh legs and we’re trying to get players back,” Bourgoin said. “Our goal, basically, today was to take it one quarter at a time. You try to do better in the next quarter and win the next quarter. Winning the next quarter might not mean you scored, but it might mean you played aggressively and nobody scored.”
Dave Dyer – 621-5640
ddyer@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @Dave_Dyer
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