JAY — Second-half explosions are the norm for Spruce Mountain field hockey, so a one-goal deficit didn’t frighten the Phoenix as they prepared to break the halftime huddle Tuesday against Lawrence.
But wait a minute. Literally.
Alexis Laverdiere and Dominique Lewis each scored in the first 58 seconds of the half, and Lawrence staved off a spirited comeback to spoil Spruce Mountain’s senior day, 4-3, in an intersectional KVAC Class B clash of playoff-bound teams.
“Usually we come out in the second half pretty good, so that was kind of what we were expecting, but it didn’t happen,” Spruce Mountain co-coach Jane DiPompo said.
Hailee Parlin assisted Laverdiere’s goal and McKenna Rogers set up Lewis for a 4-1 advantage.
Spruce Mountain (9-5) used Alex Bessey’s speed down the sideline, followed by a barrage of penalty corners, to make a game of it.
Bessey scored from a tough angle with 24:15 remaining, Morgan Dalton redirected Kaylee Leclerc’s shot after a blast into the circle by Emily Hogan to get the Phoenix within one at the five-minute mark.
The flurry of activity in the Lawrence defensive zone continued, but Alexis Chamberlain and Lilla Tilton-Flood rewarded Bulldogs’ coach Shawna Robinson’s strategy to put them on defense with numerous disruptions down the stretch.
Robinson utilized Chamberlain and Tilton-Flood as middies all season.
“Back is their natural position. That’s where they had been for three years,” Robinson said. “And I had to move my biggest offensive threat (Lauren Watson) back to a mid. So there were a lot of different dynamics.”
Rogers and Chamberlain scored first-half goals to rally Lawrence (11-3) from an early one-goal deficit.
Lewis set up Rogers’ tying goal with 14:02 to go in the half, shortly after the star basketball point guard spent a brief injury break on the bench. She took a wayward ball off the forehead, wearing a golf ball-sized jump for her trouble.
“They don’t come any tougher than Domi,” Robinson said. “All you have to do is see the egg on her head. You can’t coach what she has.”
Less than three minutes later, Chamberlain followed her own rebound after a tough first save by Grace Ryan to put the Bulldogs in front.
Spruce Mountain trailed at the half despite a 10-4 advantage in shots. Those numbers swung the other way after the break. Each team ended the afternoon with 13 scoring bids.
“We’d get three passes in, but then they’d get one (and score). It was just like boom, boom,” DiPompo said. “What they’re good at is one-touch. When the ball was coming at them, with one touch they would set themselves up and we would fly by.”
Leclerc provided the early lead for Spruce Mountain six minutes in, taking advantage of a second chance after Lawrence goaltender Emily Tozier denied Bessey.
Both teams needed the win to have any chance of avoiding a road game in their respective quarterfinal rounds.
Lawrence, in its first season after dropping down from Class A, entered the game No. 5 in Class B North. Spruce Mountain will set up either sixth or seventh in the South bracket.
“We needed that for sure. I mean, we’re 11-3. It’s very respectable,” Robinson said. “We’re a big momentum team. We have a tendency, well, I think we back off some. We lost at Mt. View, up 2-0 with eight minutes left in the game and lost 3-2.”
The Phoenix did everything in their power to make history repeat itself.
“At least it was fun to watch,” DiPompo said. “They came back. They showed some character.”
Ryan made nine saves for Spruce Mountain, which received a huge lift defensively from Baylee Gilboe.
“She had an excellent defensive game back there,” Spruce Mountain co-coach Julia Parker said. “And Alex came back in and carried the ball down the side to get those goals going.”
Tozier was up to the task for Lawrence, making nine of her 10 saves in the first half.
It was the first-ever meeting between two perennially strong programs.
“We tried to play it as just a game today. We knew we were going to make the playoffs. We just don’t know where we’re going to be,” Robinson said. “It was a big game for them, too, because they’re in the same, exact spot.”
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