GRAY — It was Poland’s fourth overtime game and midfielder Emma MacMahon was determined not to play another full 16 minutes of extra time in field hockey.
So the freshman decided to score the winning goal with 3:32 left in the first overtime to lift the Knights to a stunning 1-0 win over Gray-New Gloucester on an overcast Monday afternoon.
“This is a fourth (overtime game) in two weeks and I am exhausted, and I know that, but I needed to push for my family that has always been supporting me,” MacMahon said. “Last year was such a rough year. I couldn’t play. I had to run cross country. I had to build my skill up and this was my second goal of the season.
“It was a really big personal goal for me to build my confidence up on the field. This means a lot to me — this sport, and I just wanted to bust my butt so we didn’t have to go another eight minutes of breathing so heavy and sweating.”
MacMahon said Gray-NG (2-6) goalie Lorenza Piper made a great save before Piper fell in the overtime. MacMahon got a hold of the ball and slipped it in the net for the unassisted, winning point.
“(MacMahon) is a freshman. We have been developing her all season,” Poland (2-7) coach Mara Balboni said. “When she came in in the summer, she started doing workouts with us, and I thought, ‘Wow, this could be a really developed player for us in the future.
“Our main goal this year is to develop a strong midfield for us. Our senior captain (Abby Bsullak) is a mid so we gave (MacMahon) right mid to help her out down there….”
Balboni said the Knights have struggled to score this season and it explains the rash of overtime games.
“We have a really young, inexperienced team,” she said. “But I think today this was our fourth OT game in a row and we lost the last three, so I mean all of our girls on the bench were sick of playing OT and I think they finally got the fire lit under them.”
But the two teams could not come to a resolution after four quarters of missed opportunities on both sides. Goalie Emma Moreau got the win in net.
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