ORONO, Maine — After her team dominated the first half but found itself in a scoreless tie, Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield field hockey coach Nancy Hughes told her Huskies they needed to raise their intensity level in the second half.
It took them only 19 seconds into the second half to break the tie on a goal by Addi Williams and Kali Doron added another just 3:44 later as the Huskies went on to annex their first state field hockey championship, 2-0, over Oak Hill of Wales in the Class C final at Morse Field in Alfond Stadium on Saturday night.
Both teams were appearing in their first state final.
Williams’ 11th goal in her last five games and seventh in four playoff games was a highlight-reel gem as she and fellow sophomore April McAlpine worked a multi-pass give-and-go down the field before McAlpine sent Williams in alone on Oak Hill’s Abby Fuller.
“Coach Hughes gave us a really intense conversation at halftime and we came out on fire in the second half. We wanted that goal,” said McAlpine. “We’ve worked on that give-and-go all season. It’s worked one or two times and other times it hasn’t.
“That was picture-perfect,” added McAlpine. “The passes we made were hard for them to stop. I made a leading pass to Addi and she made a beautiful shot.”
“I was very lucky. I didn’t look up,” grinned Williams. “I was just in the right place and it worked out real well. I aimed for the far post and the goalie reached out [but couldn’t get it].”
“That was a beautiful goal,” acknowledged Oak Hill senior sweeper Brooke Surette who turned in an exceptional performance as did center back Lexi Fuller.
Oak Hill hadn’t allowed a playoff goal until Saturday.
Doiron expanded the lead when she positioned herself on the doorstep at the far post and directed Victoria Friend’s diagonal pass into the net behind Fuller.
“I saw Kali and I knew if I shot it, it wouldn’t go in,” said Friend. “So I got it to her and hoped it would go in.”
“Victoria made a beautiful pass across the goal. I was wide open,” said Doiron. “I just had to make contact and I did.”
Oak Hill, led by hard-working senior forward Kylee Veilleux, began playing with a sense of urgency and generated a handful of good chances.
But tireless senior sweeper Taylor Hall was immense, racing all over the field to disrupt Oak Hill’s attack and stickhandle out of danger.
The talented and speedy Williams was a constant threat and Friend, Doiron and Madisyn Hartley also kept constant pressure on the Oak Hill defense.
Senior goalie Mikayla Carr made one save on nine shots for the 14-4 Huskies and Fuller made five saves on 11 shots for 12-6 Oak Hill.
MCI had a 10-3 edge in penalty corners.
“They’re the best team we’ve played, hands down,” said Oak Hill coach Betsy Gilbert. “They’re a very fast, very-skilled team. They’re a great stickhandling team and they out-hustled us at times. But our girls never gave up and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
“We played very, very well,” said Hall.
“We played as a team. We knew what we had to do and we did it,” said Doiron.