FARMINGTON — The Messalonskee girls lacrosse team had no trouble getting back on track Tuesday afternoon.
Paced by three players who each scored three goals or more, the Eagles rolled to a 15-3 win over Mt. Blue in a Class B matchup at Caldwell Field.
Maddi Doody and Abigail Stevens each scored four goals for Messalonskee (6-3), while Julia Wade added three.
“I think this was a great game to practice our fundamentals,” said Doody, a senior. “We’ve been working really hard and have focused on defense.”
Emma Dunn, Chloe Roberts and Alissa Butterfield tallied goals for the Cougars (5-2).
It was a welcome bounce-back game for the Eagles, who fell 14-3 to Greely on Saturday in Cumberland. Messalonskee won four straight games before its loss to the Rangers.
“After our game on Saturday, this was a good little pick-me-up,” said Wade, a senior.
“For us, (the game) was about starting really strong,” Messalonskee head coach Crystal Leavitt said. “We haven’t really had a game where we really came out strong and ready to go. That’s something we’ve worked on and has been a goal. I think we did that today.”
Messalonskee got to work quickly against Mt. Blue, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first six minutes, with two goals from Doody and a score from Wade.
Dunn tallied her goal with 17 minutes left in the first half, but the Eagles responded with six unanswered goals, including a score from Doody and two goals from Wade for a 9-1 halftime lead.
“We had some of our offense, and even some of our defense, get switched around out there to offense (during the game),” Doody said. “It’s just great to see everyone get a chance to score.”
Messalonskee’s Abigail Stevens (8) tries to split Mt. Blue defenders Emma Dunn (8) and Bree Griffin (11) in the first quarter of a girls lacrosse game Tuesday in Farmington. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
Stevens got involved in the offensive output in the second half, scoring three of her four goals. Messalonskee outshot the Cougars by an 18-9 margin.
Wade said she’s been really impressed with how the younger players have adjusted to the varsity ranks.
“There’s so much talent coming in with this freshman class,” Wade said. “There’s a couple of brand new players that are actually starting for us. It’s incredible to see how far they’ve come and how far they’re going to go.”
In spite of the loss, Mt. Blue — still a relatively new program in the varsity ranks — is off to a strong start. The Cougars kicked off the 2023 season with four straight victories.
“We are really proud of this team and how hard they’ve worked to get to where they are right now,” Mt. Blue head coach Liz LeClair said. “When we play teams like Messalonskee, we know they’re competitive. We’re happy with, defensive wise, how we played, how we held them. To see them work on the field, especially Callahan Towle and Bree Griffin, they’re a dynamic duo on that end, I think we had our heads held high because we respect Messalonskee as a team. We’re just happy with how we’re improving as a team and as a program.”
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