TURNER – It didn’t take long for the Leavitt Hornets to assert their dominance Tuesday.

The Hornets scored in the first two minutes and blitzed the Lincoln Eagles for five first-half goals to breeze to an easy 8-0 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference field hockey win.

The Hornets (1-1) continually attacked the Eagles’ left flank throughout the first half. Time and again it was Tiffany Poland firing balls across the crease with open teammates racing into open lanes on the short side, far side and down the middle for scoring chances.

Jessica Paladino banged home a hat trick in the first 30 minutes and added another after the break.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Paladino. “I’d scored three in a game before but that was the first time (scoring four).”

“We were able to create more room by setting up instead of trying to jam it through the defenders,” added Leavitt coach Wanda Ward-MacLean.

Just 1:59 into the match, Paladino buried her first score past Lincoln keeper Nicole Russell (11 saves). Hautumn Smith had fired a free hit from the side and Meagan Gilbert punched it toward the cage. Paladino raced in from the short side and banged the shot in.

Less than five minutes later, the Hornets again went on the attack. This time it was Paladino setting up a wide open Tiffany Poland from 15 feet out.

Paladino would add two more by blasting one from just inside the top circle and tucking in a loose ball on the far side post. On her long shot she wheeled around and unloaded the shot.

“She’s a very good player,” Ward-MacLean said of Paladino. “She has a nice touch inside the circle and she’s always getting a stick on the ball.”

Lauren Doiron also chipped in with a goal in the 20-minute and 41-second scoring barrage which prompted a timeout by Lincoln.

“(The Hornets) are very good,” said Lincoln coach Heather O’Bryan. “We’re much more of a finesse team than they are and we had trouble adjusting. Definitely in the circle we had a really hard time today.”

The Eagles (0-2) kept the Hornets at bay for most of the second half before Poland notched her second goal to break the ice with just 4:38 remaining.

Paladino and Kaela Jalbert completed the scoring.

Kristin Schrepper and Jessica Vickerson each saw a full half with nary a shot on goal to combine for the shutout.