AUBURN — Gray-New Gloucester/North Yarmouth Academy found its stride early in each of the four quarters in a 4-0 WMC field hockey victory over St. Dominic Academy on Monday.
Forward Kenlie Nadeau, who had both of the Patriots’ second-half goals, said the pregame playlist pumped the team up and got their intensity going for the game.
“Our warmup, our bus ride, our music,” Nadeau said.
Patriots coach Julia Leary said she isn’t concerned about quick starts, but about making the correct decisions.
“We always tell them to play smart and play strong; those are our biggest things,” Leary said. “…We have a very strong forward line right now, and they seem to know where each other is going.”
St. Dom’s coach Mercedes Archer is seeing progress from the young Saints (0-4) squad.
“We are definitely improving. Each game I am finding things we need to work on,” Archer said. “I mean, there’s always things to work on. But every game, they get better on their passes, using their strong side of their sticks.”
Amelia Bowie put the Patriots (2-1) up 1-0 quickly in the first quarter with a scramble in the circle. Emma Bowden had the assist on the goal, where there was a battle in front of the net.
“(Amelia) is very silent but a very powerful player,” Leary said. “She’s a playmaker on the field, and she’s on the forward line. She plays on both ends of the field and she does it very well.”
The Saints put pressure on after the goal and put a handful of shots on Patriots goalie Samantha Poulin.
“I feel like each time (the opposition) gets a goal, (we) get that boost of energy,” Archer said.
Poulin made six saves in the first 15 minutes and added two saves in the second quarter, while having to make one save in the third and fourth quarters.
“Her mental game is very strong,” Leary said about Poulin. “Sometimes with goalkeepers, your mental game makes you or breaks you.”
Bowden made it 2-0 in the second quarter when she ran to the net and fired a shot past St. Dom’s Maia Cote.
Cote kept the Saints in it during the second quarter by making 12 saves.
Nadeau was the go-to player for the Patriots in the second half. She scored 1:11 into the third quarter, giving Gray-New Gloucester/NYA a 3-0.
“It was good,” Nadeau said about extending the lead to 3-0. “It was helpful for our team to keep our energy up.”
It was the first shot on Cote in the third quarter. She proceeded to stop the final six shots in the frame.
“Maia got 25 saves overall,” Archer said. “She did phenomenal.”
After Cote made an initial save, Nadeau scored for the second time 6:15 into the fourth quarter for a 4-0 advantage. Bowie had an assist on both of Nadeau’s goals.
“She’s a junior from NYA; she has great ball movement on the field,” Leary said of Nadeau. “Right now, she has the most assists on our team. She does a great job setting up her teammates for those goals.”
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