AUBURN — Edward Little’s Leah Thibodeau had enough energy to be the hero in Thursday’s field hockey game again Lewiston at Sherwood Heights Elementary.
In overtime, the junior forward jammed the ball across the goal line after a penalty corner to break a scoreless tie and give the Red Eddies a 1-0 victory over the Blue Devils.
“I knew we were all exhausted and there were 1,000 sticks in (the circle),” Thibodeau said. “I am so glad we ended up finishing that goal because it was just chaos.”
Amanda Raymond assisted on the game’s only goal.
Lewiston (1-4) coach Jenessa Talarico was happy with the Blue Devils’ effort but said in order to win close games they need to focus more on the small details of field hockey.
“It was a good game; they played really hard,” Talarico said. “I think it comes down to doing the little things correctly, like getting five yards away (on a foul), stuff like that.”
Before her game-winner, Thibodeau had a breakaway opportunity, but Lewiston goalie Kim McLaughlin shut down her former Coastal Field Hockey travel team teammate for one of her 11 saves in the game.
“I was looking to beat her out, but unfortunately, it didn’t go through,” Thibodeau said.
McLaughlin helped the Blue Devils force overtime with two saves in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
Lewiston’s Olivia Crowley and Edward Little’s Micah Joler, front, collide during Thursday’s game at Sherwood Heights Elementary School in Auburn. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal
Lewiston’s best scoring chance came early in the fourth when defender Gabriella Thomas took a penalty stroke, but the shot went into Edward Little goalie Kasey Smith’s (six saves) pads.
Edward Little (3-3) bolstered its offensive attack for the second half and pinned Lewiston in its defensive zone for the first seven minutes of the third quarter. The Red Eddies generated some changes, but a couple of shots went out of play.
Edward Little coach Kim Joler said she changed the formation for the second half.
“We made it an offensive game,” Joler said. “Instead of a three(-forward), we made it a four-person forward (group), and adjusting our midfield and just making sure our defense was strong.”
McLaughlin stopped two shots in the middle of the third quarter. After the second save, Lewiston flipped the field and got a shot on Smith, but the Red Eddies defense cleared the ball out of danger.
The Blue Devils had another chance in the offensive circle with five minutes remaining in the third quarter but were unable to put the ball into the cage off a penalty corner.
Lewiston, whose home field has artificial turf, adjusted to playing on the grass at Sherwood Heights in the second half.
“We talked about (at halftime) we are on grass, not turf,” Talarico said. “If we drive the ball (with a long passing attempt or shot) it will stay in bounds, where on turf — those usually roll off the end lines.”
McLaughlin made another save off a penalty corner in the final minutes of the third quarter.
The Red Eddies had several scoring chances early in the game but didn’t capitalize. A few shots went wide of the cates and they weren’t able to convert four penalty corners into points.
McLaughlin stopped three shots for the Blue Devils in the quarter.
Lewiston had the only two shots of the second quarter. Both were by Jenni Flynn, who ran into the circle and fired a shot, but Smith stopped that and Flynn rebound attempt.
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