LISBON — When Mountain Valley Conference schools Lisbon and Spruce Mountain play a high school field hockey game, it’s usually a battle until the end.
On Monday morning, the end occurred after the second overtime as the two teams played to a 1-1 tie at Lisbon High School.
Spruce Mountain sits at 8-4-1 and atop the Class C Heal Points and hosts Mountain Valley at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, while Lisbon finishes the regular season at 5-8-1 and currently stands at No. 6 awaiting the final standings.
Spruce Mountain came in to Monday’s contest looking to avenge a 1-0 loss to the Greyhounds on Sept. 19.
“I told the girls that they were going to be out for revenge,” Lisbon coach Julie Petrie said. “We played ‘on’ that day in September. We’ve had our ups and downs since, but today we talked about playing consistent.”
“Right now, a win or a tie is just points for the tournament so we can get as much as we can so we play at home for as long as possible,” Spruce Mountain coach Jane DiPompo said.
Spruce immediately put pressure on Lisbon from the opening whistle. While the Phoenix fired shot after shot at Lisbon goalie Becky Budesheim, the keeper and her defense of Natalie Scott, Megan Libby, Timber Mattson and senior Peyton Gosselin kept the visitors off the scoreboard.
With a little over 13 minutes left, Emily Castonguay broke free in the circle and fired a shot on net, only to have Budesheim make the save. When Castonguay picked up the rebound and shot again, the junior kicked it away for another save.
“She played outstanding,” Petrie said. “I told her today she needs to be on and she was.”
However, at 12:23, Erin McPherson grabbed a loose ball in front of the cage and beat Budesheim for the game’s first goal.
It did not take long for the Greyhounds to even the score. With 7:50 on the clock. Lisbon penetrated into the Spruce Mountain circle and senior Mallory Fairbanks made a pass to Samantha Sitarz. The sophomore finished the play with a goal past Phoenix goalie Melissa Bamford for the equalizer.
“That was Sammy’s first varsity goal, off a beautiful pass from Mallory,” Petrie said.
The two squads went into the halftime break with the 1-1 score. Spruce Mountain put seven shots on net to Lisbon’s one in the first 30 minutes, while holding an advantage in penalty corners, 7-1.
Throughout the second half, neither team was able to muster much offense. Spruce’s Julie Doiron paced the Phoenix with her big hits, and as go-to person on penalty corners.
“She’s been doing it for us all year,” DiPompo said. “She’s one of our captains and a leader on the field.”
On the Lisbon side, seniors Sydney Plourde and Fairbanks led the Greyhounds on the field, as her coach compared Fairbanks to a familiar name.
“She’s an animal, she was everywhere on the field today,” Petrie said. “She has to be our Tom Brady and lead us as I expect her to be everywhere and on the field. Today I didn’t have to tell her to do that, she was on it.”
As it turned out, both teams were “on it” defensively in the second half, followed by both overtimes as neither team found the back of the cage again.
“This was a big game for us, we stuck together and did the best we could,” Doiron said. “We consider ourselves a second half team and today our defense stepped it up.”
Lisbon denied Spruce from scoring again in the second half, despite another seven penalty corners, Budesheim continued to do her part, stopping four more Phoenix shots in the frame, keeping the score 1-1 after regulation.
During the two overtimes, Budesheim kept turning away shots, four more all together, including a stop on Kayla Adams’ shot with five minutes remaining in the second OT. Budesheim finished with 14 saves.
After the game, both coaches talked about the importance of the contest, and what a tie does for them.
“We worked well together today,” DiPompo said. “We had some good hits and shots, but they were either at them (Lisbon) or their goalie made the save.”
“They were up for the occasion and I’m really proud of them. I’m happy they all came together and played hard,” Petrie said. “When girls step up, we play well.”
Fairbanks agreed with her coach.
“It’s definitely very important,” Fairbanks said of the tie. “We beat them before, but we’ve been practicing really hard as we know they are a strong defensive team and they can hit it up the field. So we practiced a lot of receiving balls and sending them back up. They are a good team.”
With the regular season winding down, the teams will be watching the Class C Heal Points closely, knowing they could face each other again in the playoffs.
“I expect it,” DiPompo added. “Any given day, an MVC team can beat anyone.”
Spruce Mountain’s Julie Doiron, left, and Lisbon’s Mallory Fairbanks both race to a loose ball in MVC field hockey play in Lisbon on Monday. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)Both Erin McPherson, left, and Sydney Plourde battle for a ball in an MVC high school field hockey clash in Lisbon on Monday. The two teams tie, 1-1. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
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