WATERVILLE, Maine — The Skowhegan High School field hockey team continued its dominance of Class A North on Wednesday afternoon. The Indians received early first-half goals 4 minutes, 47 seconds apart from Adelle Foss and Hannah McKenney, and completely shut down Mt. Blue’s attack en route to a 3-0 victory at frigid and blustery Bernatchez Field at Thomas College.
It was the 18th consecutive regional title for Paula Doughty’s top-seeded Indians (17-0), who will play South champ York (13-3-1) the program’s 16th state title in 18 years at Husson University in Bangor on Saturday.
Second seed Mt. Blue of Farmington wound up 11-4-2 with three of the four losses coming to Skowhegan.
Skowhegan had a 21-4 edge in shot attempts and goalie Mackenzie McConnell was forced to make just one save.
Mt. Blue junior goalie Brooke Bolduc turned in an exceptional 10-save performance, making several Grade-A (high-percentage) stops to keep the score respectable.
The Indians established their superiority from the opening whistle and it took them just 4:01 to take the lead.
Standout back Lizzie York took a pass from Allyssa Bailey in the middle of the field and made a long diagonal pass into the circle to Foss, who had her back to goal. Foss did a little spin move and slid the ball into the far corner.
“We work on that, shooting to the far corner. It was a lucky shot. Thankfully, it went in,” Foss said.
McKenney extended the lead after Emily Reichenbach hustled to keep the ball in play near the right sideline. She passed it Maliea Kelso, who fired a pass across the circle.
McKenney extended her stick and deflected the ball toward the goal. It glanced in off a Mt. Blue defender.
“We played really well. Mt. Blue is our hardest opponent,” said York, who will play at Division I Hofstra University next season. “We did all the little things right. I’m proud of how far our team has come this season.”
Mt. Blue coach Jody Harmon called a timeout and her Cougars responded with their first foray into the Skowhegan circle. They generated a couple of good chances, but Molly Harmon rolled a shot wide, and Ashley Parlin chipped the ball well past the post.
Mt. Blue played much better defensively in the second half after being outshot 14-2 in the first half.
But York and fellow defenders Bailey, Gabrielle Campbell and Olivia Hatch were stout, and the Indians swarmed the ball and didn’t allow the Cougars to penetrate the circle.
“We played our game in the first half,” said Doughty, who felt her team spent too much time trying to protect the lead in the second half which prompted her to call two timeouts.
“After the second timeout, we came out storming” Doughty said.
Breagh Kennedy, who teamed with Kelso and McKenney to control the midfield, added an insurance goal late in the game. York put on a nifty stickhandling display to separate herself from a defender and threaded the needle with a pass to Kennedy, who wheeled and tucked a shot into the far corner.
“Mt. Blue is a great team. We played well. We were unified and we didn’t let up,” Foss said.
Coach Harmon said her team didn’t play its best.
“They were so tight and nervous. You could see it. But we had eight new starters this year. They worked hard. I’m proud of them,” said Harmon, who received solid performances from her daughter, Molly, along with Ashley Parlin and Madison Bird.
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