Gardiner field hockey ends Belfast’s 40-game winning streak

Gardiner’s Zoey Sullivan-Brennan, left, and Belfast’s Charley Mills reach for the ball during a Class B North field hockey game Tuesday in Gardiner. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

GARDINER — The Gardiner field hockey team has been in search of its first signature win of the 2026 season.

The Tigers found it Tuesday night.

A goal by sophomore Anna Griffiths broke a tie with 7:19 remaining and gave Gardiner a 3-2 victory over two-time defending Class B champion Belfast at Hoch Field. The result snapped the Lions’ 40-game winning streak that dated back to 2024. It just so happens that Gardiner delivered that previous loss.

“It’s really awesome to see. They deserve (the win),” Gardiner coach Jess Merrill said. “It’s nice to see the hard work showing off tonight.”

Gardiner (8-3) broke the tie by dominating possession in the fourth quarter, setting up Griffiths’ deflection into the cage. Cora Pare, a freshman, was credited with the assist.

The win bumped Gardiner up to fourth place in the tightly contested Class B North Heal point standings, which currently are led by Nokomis (9-1), Cony (7-2-1) and Belfast (7-1).

Tigers finally break through

Through its first 10 games, Gardiner’s only losses were against three of the state’s top teams — rival Cony (1-0), perennial Class A North champion Skowhegan (2-0) and Nokomis (2-0).

“We graduated so many girls (from last season), it was just trying to figure out who’s going to be our goal scorers (early in the season),” Merrill said. “I think they’re starting to figure that out. It’s nice to see us finally finish today. We’ve had so many opportunities in all of our games so far. But to finally finish, it’s really good to see and good momentum going forward.”

Multiple scorers stepped up for the Tigers, including senior captain Zoey Sullivan-Brennan and junior Izzy Stone.

“Our team chemistry (is key),” Sullivan-Brennan said. “We all trust each other on the field. Obviously, we’re very young. Our younger players are really stepping up this year. I think we’ve just found the connections on the field and have been working really well together.”

Reloaded Lions chugging along

Belfast graduated a large chunk of a group that led the program to its eighth and ninth state championships. This season, the Lions don’t have a single senior on the roster, and the only juniors are Jordan Wight, goaltender Opal Woodbury and captain Hope Reynolds. There are 10 sophomores.

“We do play very well as a team,” Belfast coach Jan Jackson said. “They’re young, and we have a lot of different people who can score goals, which is nice. We’ll learn from our mistakes and move on.”

Still, the Lions outscored opponents by a 38-7 margin in their first seven games. Reynolds and sophomore Charley Miles were the goal scorers on Tuesday.

Unsung hero

Belfast sophomore Morgan Shorey, who is usually a goalie, made one of the best saves of the season as a defender against the Tigers.

Leading 2-1 with 3:39 left in the third quarter, Gardiner got the ball past Woodbury, who was trying to make an aggressive stop on the ball. That gave the Tigers a shot on an open cage, but Shorey dove and saved the ball with her stick. The Lions then tied the game early in the fourth quarter.