WINTHROP — Several key offensive outbursts and an unwavering goalie allowed Oak Hill to put the brakes on Winthrop’s unbeaten season in a Class C South field hockey game Monday.
The Raiders played loose and carefree and sidetracked the Ramblers with a 3-0 upset at Kelsey Ann Stoneton Memorial Field. The Raiders (5-6) also carted off a boat load of Heal points.
“Today was all about building our girls back up,” Oak Hill coach Betsy Gilbert said. “We had a really tough loss last week. (We) just (wanted) to get them to believe in themselves and get out there and play for the love of the game.
“We just wanted them to play hard today. They did more than just play hard. They came out and executed everything that we teach these kids, and if we can get all of them to pull it together on the same day, you know, that’s what they did today. I am just so proud of them. I am in shock, really.”
It was a quite a feat for the Raiders, who faced a Winthrop (11-1) team that did everything it could to slip the ball past Oak Hill junior goalie Kiara Levesque (14 saves). Winthrop’s offense was relentless and had ample opportunity to score with 19 corners, but Levesque wouldn’t budge.
“My last two games weren’t the greatest,” Levesque said, “so being able to actually put everything together and head into it to get a shutout … it just felt really good.
“The first couple of corners weren’t that bad, but when they start building up, they can start being a little intimidating, but just keeping our heads in the game, everyone did so good … it just helped everything and made it real easy.”
For nearly 24 minutes in the first half, the Ramblers and Raiders missed out on several opportunities to score, including a penalty shot — junior forward Adelle Surette’s shot was booted away by Winthrop goalie Madison Weymouth with seven minutes left in the first half
But the Raiders remained composed. Freshman forward Julie Mooney capitalized on Brianna Dumais’ feed and scored at 6:04, putting Oak Hill on top 1-0 heading into halftime.
“We worked as a team and I feel like I couldn’t have got the goal without them,” Mooney said. “I think my team all did it together.”
The first 10 minutes in the second half was a repeat of the first, with Winthrop throwing every thing it had at Levesque, who stood her ground.
It looked like Oak Hill’s precarious one-goal lead was in danger of disappearing, but sophomore forward Cassie Steckino was on Winthrop’s doorstep at the right moment — twice.
Steckino scored back-to-back goals at 18:47 and 7:21, with assists going to Mooney and Surette.
“It felt really good to being in the right position and having the whole team work together to get the ball down there for making the final touch,” Steckino said.
From there on in, the Raiders took a defensive posture and held off the tenacious Ramblers for several tense moments.
“We sure tried everything,” Winthrop coach Jess Merrill said. “Today was their day, for sure. We played with formations. We tried all kinds of different things. Their goalie was on, and sometimes you just hit a hot goalie and no matter what you do or throw at her, you are not putting it in.
“It was just one of those days, and everybody has one of those days … I mean, pressure was great, we had lots of opportunities, but that’s what kind of been going on all year. We had trouble executing and it was apparent today, but they did an awesome job coming out on us. I mean they took us out of everything.”
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