WATERVILLE — There was one point in the Cony girls lacrosse team’s game Saturday when the Rams looked vulnerable. It came with 9:08 left in the first half, when Cony’s four-goal lead on MCI/Nokomis was cut in half, prompting coach Gretchen Livingston to call a timeout.
“We had a rough start a little bit,” senior midfielder Kami Lambert said. “After we had that timeout, coach kind of whipped us into shape and we did what she asked us to do.”
The Rams didn’t look back from there, shutting out MCI/Nokomis for the rest of the half and eventually running away with a 16-5 victory at Thomas College. The teams were in opposite positions coming in, and have had opposite starts to the season. Cony, a playoff team in Class B last year, is 3-1, while MCI/Nokomis, which got all five goals from Meagan Whitten and is a first-year team with newcomers to the sport throughout the roster, fell to 0-6.
Lambert and Cammie Osborne led the Rams with three goals apiece, while Sierra Clark, Raegan Bechard, Linelys Velazquez and Faith Leathers-Pouliot scored two apiece. Sarah Cook-Wheeler had 10 saves for the Rams, and Hannah West made 18 saves for MCI/Nokomis.
Despite their good start to the season, Livingston said it’s been tough for the Rams to get into a rhythm since, like many teams without a turf field, they’ve often been confined indoors throughout what’s been a wet spring.
“We have only had one practice on a full field. Being able to come out today and utilize the whole field was good to see,” Livingston said. “We didn’t necessarily see that in our first three games. That progression of playing in the gym, playing on a small piece of grass to being on a full field has been a work in progress. Today, I was happy with how that finally came together.”
Clark and Osborne scored quickly, and after a Whitten goal, Osborne, Lambert and Clark struck on consecutive goals to make it 5-1 with 18:01 remaining. Whitten notched goals with 13:33 and then 9:08 to go, however, to make it 5-3 and force Livingston to gather her team.
“I think we got a little too comfortable,” she said. “I just reminded them that MCI has some good players, and they can come in and get right back in it. So we didn’t want to let them score again before the half.”
The Rams didn’t, and got goals from Bechard, Kiara Henry, Osborne and Velazquez to stretch the lead to 9-3 by the break. Leathers-Pouliot and Lambert scored twice in the second half, while Lambert, Sydney Avery and Velazquez also netted goals.
“Our midfield transition is finally coming together, with that passing and trusting each other,” Livingston said. “And our attack, they’re finally seeing they can be a weapon up there. We’ve got a lot of people that can put the ball in the back of the net and we like to encourage assists and passing in that offensive end. That was good to see as well.”
That balance was on display, as eight players scored altogether and players like Abbie Doiron (two assists), Hannah Rouleau and Andrea Richardson (one each) also contributed to the offense.
“It’s been pretty consistent from the last couple of games,” said Osborne, a junior attacker and midfielder. “Multiple people have been adding to the scoreboard for us and keeping us going and gaining momentum. We’ve had a good offense this year.”
“We try to pass it around as much as we can, and get everybody a touch,” Lambert said. “We have a lot of skilled players as a whole, so it’s good to use everybody.”
Hopes are high for Cony, which lost only three seniors from a team that went 7-5 and reached the first round of the Class B tournament.
“We’re trying to stay modest,” Osborne said. “Every game could be different. … We’re just trying to maintain that momentum from each win.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
