Slow feet, lunging sticks and, perhaps, a tinge of nervous energy overcame the Phoenix early in Saturday’s contest as visiting Camden Hills jumped out to a one-goal lead.
The coaches called timeout.
“Very slow start,” coach Julia Parker said. “Very nervous at the beginning. We called a timeout and talked to them, and I think that helped pick things up.”
Seven minutes later, Emily Hogan struck for her first of the day. Just before halftime, Sadie Storer added another and the Phoenix opened up in the second half with four more to pull away from the Windjammers for a 6-1 victory.
“The girls really stepped it up after that timeout,” Parker said, “and after you get a few goals, you feel more at ease and you just get playing.”
Hogan was a catalyst, scoring twice and creating room for her teammates among a potent front line.
“Hogan’s taken the role of communicating a lot with the girls and directing them,” Parker said. “She loves to win at home, and it’s a good thing to have someone out there like that.
“Our front line, those three are just incredible ball handlers,” Parker added.
Kaylee Leclerc also had a pair of second-half strikes for the Phoenix (2-0), and freshman Julie Doiron rifled a slap shot from the top of the circle for the exclamation point midway through the second half.
For Camden Hills, the game was another opportunity to experiment with a new formation, and work toward building the program.
“Today we kept (the new formation) a little bit better, but the play was just a bit sloppy,” Camden Hills coach Lindsey Clement said. “Our defensive lineup, it’s the same players, but they’re all doing different things, they have different responsibilities, and we are still working out those kinks.”
Things sailed along smoothly for the Windjammers (1-1) in the opening 10 minutes, capped by an Emily Daggett strike 9:45 into the contest after a long time of pounding away in the circle following a penalty corner.
“We’re capable, we just need to capitalize more,” Clement said. “We’re working hard. We just need to work on making smarter decisions and settling.”
After the Spruce Mountain timeout, play shifted into the Camden Hills end. Keeper Sara Schaefer and her defense held the Phoenix off for a while, but the pressure proved to be too much. Hogan finished from five feet with an emphatic drive to knot the score, and just before the half, Storer made it 2-1 on a rebound off Schaefer’s pads.
The Phoenix carried the momentum into the second, using a quick transition game and pinpoint passing to pick through the Windjammers’ midfield and defense. Hogan connected on a feed from Alexis Beardsley 3:06 into the half for a 3-1 lead, and Beardsley fed Leclerc for her first five minutes later to put the game out of reach.
Leclerc added her second and Doiron found the cage for her first of the season before Camden Hills slowed things down with a timeout of their own.
“The second half, we were letting them beat us to most of the balls, but the last 10 minutes we played our relaxed style of play and we held the score where it was,” she said.
“We had multiple scoring opportunities in the second half, too,” Clement added. “We had one-on-one breakaways with the goalie.”
To that end, Spruce keeper Grace Ryan turned back all three breakaway opportunities, using her aggressive style to thwart the chances.
“You’re intimidated if you’re the one dribbling in and the goalie’s charging you,” Clement said. “It makes you think twice.”
“She is an aggressive goalie, a very good goalie, and we’re lucky to still have her,” Parker said.
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