2011 Mt Ararat High School Field Hockey - Hi-Lites

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Field Hockey Season Re-Cap

I think it is fair to say that 2011 was an 'unusual' season for the Eagles. It also had to be a little disappointing. The Eagles came away with only two victories, but they amassed five ties along the way. Turn some of those ties into victories and you're looking at a .500 season in a league that is increasingly competitive. There were only two games in which the Eagles were not in the game. So it still was a fun season for the players and their fans.

First, let's give some props to the seniors. Co-captains Jody Curley, Leah Hitchcock, and Lindsey Smith provided the type of leadership that coaches dream of. Jody is a positive force both off and on the field. She has a great understanding of the game, makes good decisions, and is an excellent passer. Leah Hitchcock fulfills many rolls in her duties as captain. She is by nature fun-loving and she inherently transfers this trait into leadership that keeps everyone 'loose' on the field. She has the unique ability to combine that quality with a focus on the field that exemplifies the competitiveness of her game. Lindsey Smith defines the new breed of girls that are being attracted to Field Hockey; Fast, strong, and athletic. Time after time, Lindsey made the big plays, whether breaking up the opponent's attack or initiating the transition to offense.

After reviewing some of this season's write-ups, I was amazed at how I overlooked the contributions of Amber Allisot. On defense, you need gamblers, you need transition players, but you also need stay at home anchors that provide the last line of defense. This allows the gamblers and transition players to do what they do best. That is exactly what Amber provided game in and game out throughout the season and her contributions are too frequently overlooked.

Raven Demasi is a three-year starter in the nets for the Eagles. IMHO, being a goalie in Field Hockey is about the least attractive thing I can imagine. It's hot, the equipment looks heavy, and people are shooting a very hard, round spheroid in your direction, which you are expected to stop. So why is Raven so good at it and how does she make it look like fun? No one has ever accused goalies in any sport of being normal, but Raven is unique in the most flattering sense of the word. She has flair and talent in the goal.

Nicki Bianconi roamed the midfield and attack positions. She was that invaluable 'sixth man' that every successful team needs to provide the jump start and instant offense when a spark is needed.

And finally, there are seniors Samantha Murray, Summer Dupuis, and Liz Edgerton who played the game for the sheer enjoyment it provided them. What a concept in such a success-driven society! Because it is a game and it is meant to be fun.

Congratulations and good luck in the future to all the seniors.

The Eagles have plenty of talent coming back next year. Let's start with the midfield. This is the position where the girls run the entire length of the field, do all the dirty work, and get very little credit. Hardest worker on the team award goes to Lizzie O'Neal, whose speed, ball-handling skills, and nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic were witnesssed and appreciated by all throughout the year. Michaela Mitchell is another pure athlete who plays the transition game as well as anyone. Mallory Nelson, a first year walk-on, split time between midfield and defense. Despite not having played before, Mallory immediately transferred her athletic instincts to the game and let her athleticism take over. She is a lock to be a force next year.

On defense, sophomore Sara Sandelin logged plenty of minutes and displayed the ability to be in the right place at the right time. This ability derives not from luck or circumstance, but from anticipation of what is transpiring on the field in real-time (as they like to say) and getting in postion to deal with it before it happens. Katelyn Beedy, affectionately referred to as 'Beedy' (because her first name supposedly rhymes with another Caitlin, although I can hear the diference in between a'C' and 'K') also saw plenty of minutes and has plenty of skills. Paige Perry proved that good things come in small packages with her spirited play. These girls should provide a solid wall of defense next year.

On offense, the astronomical stars apparently were not in alignment this year. There were big expectations for the offense this year with Charlotte Crosby and Caitlyn LaFountain returning as leading scorers from last year. Additionally, sophomore Carly Raymond was returning. Add to that Destiny Driver and Rachel Routhier and you have a contingent of fast, talented stick handlers and gifted athletes. The lack of scoring this year is certainly NOT attributable to a lack of effort or a lack of talent. Sometimes the ball really does not bounce your way. Look for the Eagles to break out with a vengence on the offense next year.

Oct 11, 2011 - Eagles Drop 1-0 Decision to Brunswick

In a close checking game, a goal by Brunswick's Kassie Coulombe with 7:20 left in the second half proved to be the difference. The loss ended the Eagles season. The game had the final play-off spot on the line and as a result of the Eagles loss, the Dragons are in, and the Eagles are out.

Oct 7, 2011 - Eagles, Lewiston Tie (Another) One On, 2-2

For the second time against Lewiston and the sixth time this season, the Eagles walked off the field with a tie. This time it was a 2-2 affair. After Lewiston scored an early goal, the Eagles Caitlyn LaFountain evened things ups with a goal of her own. Charlotte Crosby followed with her first goal of the season, assisted by LaFountain, to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead at the half.

The teams played evenly through out the second half, but victory slipped through the fingers (talons?) of the Eagles when Lewiston's Natalie Rousseau scored for the Blue Devils with 2:17 left. Neither team was able to score in the overtime periods.

The play was so even that the statistics were practically indentical. The shots on on goal were even at 11 each, the Saves were even at 9 each, and Lewiston had a slight edge in penalty corners 7-6. Even the Goalies shared the same homophonic first name: Raven (Demasi) for the Eagles and Ravon (Palmer) for the Blue Devils.

Oct 6, 2011 - Late Goal By Eddies Beats Eagles 1-0

Edward Little's Courtney Pelletier scored with 1:32 left in the game for the game's only goal. Until that point, both teams were engaged in a tight checking game with few scoring opportunities. Raven Demasi ended up with four saves for the Eagles. The loss leaves the Eagles right on the bubble in 8th place in the Heal point standings. Their remaining games are against Lewiston and Brunswick, which are two teams that are ranked lower, so if the Eagles win out, they should qualify for the playoffs.

Oct 3, 2011 - Eagles Turn It On, Beat Bangor 4-0

The dam has finally burst. Whatever was holding the Eagles offense in check has been unleashed. For the second consecutive game, the Eagles were able to channel the Force and run away with the opposition's light sabers. This time it was a 4-0 whitewash over the Bangor Rams. Caitlyn LaFountain led the way with a hat trick and Carly Raymond scored her first goal of the season. The Eagles dominated this game from start to finish, outshooting the Rams by a 23-1 margin.

LaFountain got the Eagles on the board just a little less than 6 minutes in. She followed that up with another goal off an assist from Leah Hitchcock less than two minutes later. The Eagles carried a 2-0 lead at the half.

In the second half, Rachel Routhier set up Carly Raymond for a goal. And with 6 minutes left, Caitlyn LaFountain completed her hat trick with her third goal of the game.

Sept 27, 2011 - Eagles Celebrate 2-0 Win over Hampden

Scoring has been hard to come by for the Eagles, but the Eagles doubled their scoring output for the season en route to a 2-0 victory over Hampden. It was Mt Ararat's first win of the season (they have four ties) and the girls were understandably (a) happy and (b) relieved. Hampden controlled the early couple of minutes, but Caitlyn LaFountain ended her scoring draught with a goal at 25:32 to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. The goal came off a nice Leah Hitchcock feed. The Eagles begin to tilt the field toward the Hampden net as the game progressed. Destiny Driver capitalized at 10:32 when she rattled the back of the net to give the Eagles a 2-0 edge. Caitlyn LaFountain assisted on the play.

Raven Demasi was big when she needed to be. Her best and most challenging save came at the six minute mark of the second half. That save deflated any hopes that the Broncos might cowboy up and stage a comeback. The Eagles defense was solid as it has been all year. Amber Allisot had a great game and Jody Curley continues to impress with field awareness and accurate outlet passing. Mallory Nelson has such fundamental instincts, it's hard to believe this is her first year playing. Lindsey Smith combines fearlessness and skill at breaking up plays and initiating transitions. Rebecca Sandelin play with a cagy veteran's experience that belies her sophomore status. Lizzie O'Neal toils sometimes unnoticed at the midfield position, but her contributions do not go unnoticed by the field hockey cognoscenti.

It was good to see the offense gear up with Charlotte Crosby playing a solid game along with Leah Hitchcock up front. Coach Kelly LaFountain summed it up best. "The girls played really well today and were able to put a total game together playing very good defense and scoring goals. They were very excited to see their hard work finally pay off with a win." The schedule favors the Eagles the rest of the way, so it will be interesting to see how the season ends up.

Interview with Lindsey Smith, Leah Hitchcock, and Jody Curley

Sept 24, 2011 - Lawrence Rains On Eagles 5-0

So far, the Eagles season can be summed up by the lyrics from a Greatful Dead classic: What a long, strange trip it's been. Under soggy conditions, the enigmatic Eagles lost to Lawrence 5-0. What has characterized the Eagles season is the lack of scoring. And this is surprising because they are returning their two top scorers from last season. Once again, the Eagles were shut out by a pretty good Lawrence team. The Bulldogs led 3-0 after the first half and added two second half goals, including one with 13 seconds left. Raven Demasi ended up with 6 saves for the Eagles.

The balance of the schedule is a little more favorable for the Eagles, so keep on truckin.

Sept 22, 2011 - Messalonskee Shuts Out Eagles 6-0

It was a dark and dreary night right out of a Stephen King novel that saw powerhouse Messalonskee improve to 7-1-1 with a 6-0 win over the (Mt Ararat) Eagles. Messalonskee controlled play throughout as the (Mt Ararat) Eagles managed only one shot on net. The Messalonskee scoring was evenly distributed between halves as they held a 3-0 lead at halftime before adding three second half goals. Raven DeMasi was busy in the Eagles net with 14 saves.

Sept 20, 2011 - Eagles Fall to Oxford Hills 2-0

The Eagles can't seem to buy a goal as they had 18 penalty corners and managed only 4 shots on goal. The teams were scoreless in the first half, but the Viking's Heather Verrier scored at the 12:00 minute mark and Jesse Murch followed with an insurance goal with just under 4 minutes to ice the game for Oxford Hills.

Sept 17, 2011 - Eagles Tie Cony 1-1

Surprise, surprise, surprise! Once again the Eagles played through two overtimes only to walk away with a tie. This time it was 1-1. The Eagles struck first when Destiny Driver (what a great sports name) rattled the back of the cage with a blistering shot off a penalty corner feed from Micaela Mitchell to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead with 6:43 left in the half. Raven Demasi, who ended up with 12 saves, kept the Rams off the board until 10:56 when Cony's Nicole Rugan evened the score. Both teams had opportunities in the closing minutes and in overtime, but neither team could convert and the game ended in the fourth tie of the young eason for the Eagles.

Sept 13, 2011 - Brewer Bewitches Eagles 3-1

The new schedule calls for each team to play every team in the conference and this year the Eagles got to make the long pilgrimage to Brewer to face a pretty good Brewer team (4-1) whose only loss was to powerhouse Skowhegan. Leah Hitchcock got the Eagles on the board first at 24:51 when she tapped in a Lizzie O'Neal feed. Ten minutes later, Brewer tied the game and it remained 1-1 at the half.

In the second half, play was evenly distributed between the Brewer and Mt Ararat ends. Both teams had some good scoring chances. At 17:05, Brewer's Sarah Babin scored her second goal of the game and a 90 seconds later Brewer added another goal to make it 3-1. The Eagles kept battling but couldn't make up the difference.

Raven Demasi had another virtuoso performance in the net for the Eagles. She ended up with 10 saves. The Eagles had nine shots on the Brewer keeper. Penalty corners were 9-8 in Mt Ararat's favor. The Eagles continue to improve as this well-played game against a top team attests.

Sept 12, 2011 - Eagles, Eddies in Scoreless Tie

For the third straight game, the Eagles battled to a 0-0 tie in double overtime. In the previous two games, the Eagles have engaged both Brunswick and Lewiston in scoreless ties. This time the opponent was Edward Little. This has to be a record of some sort.

Once again the Eagles defense played a stellar game. Raven Demasi had 13 saves for the Eagles as the Red Eddies had the territorial advantage. The Eagles managed only three shots on net. The Eagles (0-1-3) have yet to score a goal this year, which is somewhat ironic given that their top scorers from last year are all back. When the floodgates open (and they will), expect a deluge.

Sept 6, 2011 - Eagles Battle Blue Devils to 0-0 Tie

The Eagles matched up against Lewiston in their home opener and after two overtimes, neither team was able to score. If a tie game is like kissing your sister (brother), what is a scoreless tie game with two overtimes like? Kissing your decrepit, penniless aunt (uncle).

It was a well played game with plenty of transition as teams took turns applying pressure. Right of the bat, the Eagles' Amber Allisot set the tone for the defensive battle that would follow with a couple of good defensive plays: the first one broke up a 2 on 1 break and then she aggressively stymied another Lewiston attacker. Lewiston pressed their advantage, Raven DeMasi made a save from close in and Sarah Sandlin quickly cleared the ball out of harm's way. Page Perry showed her grit as she contributed a couple of hard defensive break-ups. Finally, Jody Curley weaved her way through the midfield as it was the Eagles turn to press on offense. Destiny Driver showed some good speed down the right side in a foray into the Lewiston end. The Eagles applied some good pressure culminating in Charlotte Crosby banging on the Blue Devils door step. I saw the ball go in as it was covered by the Lewiston goalie, but for some reason they did not allow it. The last 30 seconds of the half saw the Blue Devils pepper Raven Demasi who made save after save in rapid succession.

In the second half, the Eagles picked up the offensive pace. Two minutes in, Caitlyn LaFountain whistled a shot wide. A minute later, Caitlyn sent Charlotte Crosby in all alone but the Lewiston goalie was able to cut down the angle and make the save. About 9 minutes in, LaFountain found Crosby positioned perfectly at the far side of the net, but the ball took an odd bounce over Charlotte's stick just as she was preparing to tap it into the wide open net.

Lewsiton called a time out at the 15 minute mark and then controlled the game offensively for a six minute span, but the Eagle defense denied them any prime scoring opportunities. Eventually, the Eagles picked it up. Rachel Routhier showed good speed and stickhandling. Caitlyn LaFountain got another good opportunity at the six minute mark. The Eagles had another chance at the three minute mark when Leah Hitchcock set up Destiny Driver on the short side post, but Destiny could not drive it home.

The Eagles had the best scoring opportuities in the first OT. Caitlyn Lafountain had a good chance and Carly Raymond took a swat at the rebound. The Lewiston goalie made two big saves. Caitlyn again broke in alone but her shot went just wide.

In the second OT, both teams were getting tired. But both teams rose to the occasion when called upon. Raven Demasi agressively stuffed a Lewiston breakaway. After an end-to-end rush, Caitlyn Lafountain again shot just wide. With two minutes remaining, Rachel Routhier blasted a shot that was turned away.

In a game like this, you can't overlook the work of the midfielders who collectively probably ran a marathon. Lindsey Smith, Lizzie O'Neal, Mikaela Mitchell, and Mallory Nelson all deserve a pat on the back. The game was as even statistically as the final score. The Eagles ended up with 16 shots vs 14 for Lewiston. Even the goalies were even. Both their first names were Raven.

Sept 2, 2011 - Skowhegan In Top Form - Beat Eagles 12-0

When it comes to Field Hockey, Skowhegan is always in the conversation. As the Eagles found out, this year will be no exception as the Indians ran away with a 12-0 whooping. Maybe Skowhegan was trying to send a message to the Eagles, who have consistently improved over the past few seasons, that the Indians are still at the top of the totem pole. Message received! The Eagles are way better. Maybe they'll get a chance for revenge in the playoffs.

Eagles Scrimmage with Morse in Breast Cancer Awareness FundRaiser

The Eagles kept their rivalry with Morse (who has dropped down to Class B) alive with a scrimmage that also served as a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. The Eagles welcomed back former Mt Ararat standout Julia St Pierre, who is in her first year coaching the Shipbuilders. There was a good sized crowd on hand and the event was successful. Hopefully, this will become a tradition.

On the field, the Eagles started slowly, but increasingly showed their dominance. The final result was a 4-0 victory for the Eagles. Carly Raymond initiated the scoring for the season and christened the new solar-powered scoreboard with a goal at 21:07. A little more than 5 minutes later, Caitlyn LaFountain registered the first of her three goals. Caitlyn added two more in the second half to complete the scoring. The Morse goalie was spectacular in goal and ended up with 25 saves, many of them of the stupendous variety. Coach Lafountain played everyone early and often and the Eagles looked deep as well as talented at all positions.

Field Hockey Season Preview

The Eagles are young, fast, and athletic. Their top two scorers from last year, Caitlyn Lafountain and Charlotte Crosby, are back and they appear to have plenty of support. Nikki Bianconi, Carly Raymond, and Rachel Ruthier have plenty of ball handling skills and offensive panache while Leah Hitchcok provides muscle in the middle for the offense. Caitlyn Lafountain has been moved to the midfield position to take advantage of her overall skills, while still maintaining her offensive punch (witness the 3 goals). Lizzie O'Neal is a solid two-way performer, able to run the entire field, and equally adept at offensive penetration and defensive backchecking. Sophomore Destiny Driver should see plenty of playing time and should continue to improve as the season progresses. Newcomers Mikaela Mitchell and Mallory Nelson, two soccer tranplants, have immediately showed their athleticism as they have adapted to the midifeld and defense positions seemlessly. Katelyn Beedy is also equally talented at the midfield and defense positions. On defense, the Eagles have lost some speed from last year, but they make up for it with strength, guile, athleticism, and street smarts. Lindsy Smith, Jody Curley, Amber Allisot, and Sarah Sandlin form the back bone of the Eagles defense, with sophomore Paige Perry ready to fill in as needed.

Raven Demasi returns for her third year in goal for the Eagles. There are no words to adequately describe Raven. She personifies the reputation that goalies have as being 'different'. Raven is delightful, fun-loving, and non-chalant, but inside she is a real competitor who excels at her position. Look for the Eagles to qualify for the playoffs and don't be surprised if they advance deep into the playoffs.

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