Skowhegan, Greely triumph Indians win 3rd in row; Rangers claim first title

GORHAM – The Skowhegan field hockey team tends to be more of a second-half squad, Indians senior Michelle Farley conceded after Saturday afternoon’s Class A state title game at Gorham High.

In fact, she said, the Indians can be downright explosive after halftime. That proved true again as Skowhegan faced Deering for the 2003 state crown.

Jessie Corson had three goals, including two in the second half, as the Indians rolled to a 5-0 win over the Rams of Portland on a balmy fall afternoon.

It was Skowhegan’s third state championship in a row and the team’s sixth since 1991.

Greely of Cumberland Center avenged two straight title-game losses to Winslow, earning a 2-0 victory over the Black Raiders, in the second of three field hockey state title games here. Dexter won the Class C crown 5-1 over St. Dominic of Lewiston in the morning game.

In the Class A final, Jessica Dorman had a goal in each half to add to Corson’s effort.

“We’ve always exploded in the second half, and we did that today,” Farley said as Skowhegan’s victory celebration raged around her.

Coach Paula Doughty’s 18-0 Indians had a 2-0 lead at halftime and controlled play from the start. Three minutes into the game Corson, who was at the top of the penalty circle, slammed Katy LePage’s penalty-corner entry pass into the box for a 1-0 lead.

“I’ve been getting shots and shots from Katy, working on that in practice,” Corson said. “We knew we had to pound the goalie and get around her.”

Dorman did just that two minutes later. She made it 2-0 when she tucked the ball behind 6-foot-2 Deering goalie Megan Urban with 4:45 left before halftime.

Corson stuck in another long shot from the top of the circle with 19:42 left in the game, and scored again off a penalty corner about 90 seconds later for a 4-0 lead.

Deering had trouble getting through Skowhegan’s midfield of starters Hayley King, Corson, and Leah Provost. And the few times the Rams managed to work the ball, defenders Farley, Mallory Shute, Michelle Tibbetts and Whitney Fortier were there to stop the runs.

“That was one of the things we had to work on. When we did break it down, the defense was really good, too,” Deering midfielder Sarah White said. “On the few shots we got past the goalie there was a defender’s stick anyway.”

Deering forward Casey Smith, who led the 16-2 Rams with 15 goals this year, wasn’t at full strength because of a back injury.

Urban had seven saves on 12 shots. Skowhegan’s Carlee Evans saved all five Deering shots.

In the Class B final, the Rangers certainly knew what to expect from the Black Raiders after 1-0 losses in the 2001 and 2002 state championships.

“We were so motivated and ready for this game,” said senior captain Sara Dimick, who scored the eventual game-winning goal and added an assist. “People have said we outplayed them the last two years. This year we really wanted it.”

Greely and Winslow were scoreless in the first half, but senior forward Dimick didn’t need a lot of time after the break to score.

About 81/2 minutes into the second half, she shot the ball at the leg pads of Winslow goalie Cierra Byrne (six saves on eight shots), gathered in the rebound, and tried another shot. This one went into the back of the box.

About two minutes later Dimick used a penalty-corner play to pass the ball to Kelly Saucier, who drove a hard shot past Byrne.

“We’ve really been working on our corners, so we were excited to get some shots that way,” Dimick said. “We’ve been doing that well this year.”

Greely senior back Hayly Ross drew one of the tougher defensive assignments of the game in having to mark Winslow standout Beth Lafountain.

“We had to keep it out of the middle, just play it out to the sides, and try to beat them to every ball,” Ross said. “Coach [Robyn Thayer] talked to me before the game about it. I wanted to stay with her, because she has really nice stick work and she’s speedy.”

Lafountain, who had 17 goals this year, said it was as good as anyone had played on her.

“They remembered us from last year and they really controlled the play today,” Lafountain said. “They really marked up on us well and stayed on us. She was right on me even when I didn’t have the ball.”

Winslow had a chance to chip into Greely’s lead when Lafountain tried a penalty stroke with 11:29 left. Her shot likely wouldn’t have gone in because it was high, but Greely goalie Kristen Walker (four saves on four shots) tipped it safely out anyway.

The field hockey state crown is the first the for 16-1-1 Rangers. Winslow (15-2-1) was going for its sixth overall title and fourth in a row.