Devils rally by Stearns Haney, Randall spark Central

CORINTH – Less than 24 hours after scoring five goals and shutting out Stearns, the Central High field hockey team picked up another win over the Minutemen.

This time, however, it wasn’t as easy for the Red Devils.

Powered by two goals scored 26 seconds apart in the second half, Central rallied for a 3-1 victory over Stearns Wednesday afternoon at the high school field.

The Devils, now 12-1, were coming off Tuesday’s 5-0 win over the defending Eastern Maine Class C champion Minutemen (8-4). That game had been rescheduled after a rainout last week.

“It’s really hard to play back-to-back games with a team,” Stearns coach Lori Lincoln said. “They played well today and did what I wanted them to do, but they just couldn’t get it all together.”

Central, the top-ranked team in the Eastern Maine Class C Heal point standings, has now won 12 games in a row with its only loss coming against Dexter in the season opener.

Stearns had a 1-0 halftime lead despite Central’s offensive domination. The Red Devils had 13 shots on goal and eight penalty corners but no scoring to show for their effort.

The Minutemen, meanwhile, scored on their only corner of the half. Amy Collinsworth banged home a pass from Felicia Achorn 12 minutes into the game.

“We’re not used to being down early and [Stearns] came out on fire,” Central midfielder Caitlin Elliott said. “Not many teams have scored on us first. But it kind of sparked something, got us going.”

Central reversed its poor penalty corner luck after halftime, however, when sweeper Chantel Randall knocked in a pass from Beth Dauphinee on a penalty corner to tie the game four minutes into the half.

The Devils followed up that goal by converting another corner 26 seconds later when Hilary Haney was waiting by the post to strike in a Traci Underhill pass as the Red Devils grabbed the lead.

“We try to pass and set each other up, not take shots immediately off the corner,” Underhill said. “We like to pass and get [the opposing goalie] off her angle. We put the ball to the opposite side of the cage and Hilary just put it in. That’s what we’ve been working on.”

Rachel Trafton iced the game with 19:38 left when she scored off another Dauphinee assist, again after a corner. It was Trafton’s fourth goal in two days.

Courtney Hersey, who takes the initial hit on Central’s corners, said improved communication helped the Devils convert more of their set plays in the second half.

“We had to calm down, keep the heads in the game, and talk,” she said. “That was the main thing.”

Central goalie Kara Voisine made two saves on six shots, while Deanna Michaud of Stearns had six saves on 18 shots.

JV: Stearns 4-0