RUMFORD — There are times when it’s necessary to keep digging.

Mountain Valley showed its resolve Monday. Led by junior Payton Provencher’s pair of first-half goals, the Falcons overcame a slow start to dig out a 4-0 victory over rival Dirigo at sunny Hosmer Field.

Mountain Valley and Dirigo battled through the first half, but the Falcons eventually began to take command.

“Dirigo had played us tough,” Mountain Valley coach Melissa Forbes said. “I think the girls had looked at (Dirigo’s) record and thought it would be easier. Dirigo was beating us to the ball, so during a timeout I reminded the girls not to let them get behind us.”

The opportunities eventually materialized with a continued rush toward the cage. The Falcons advanced deep in to the circle, a centering pass went through to the far post and Cougars’ goalie Betsy Noyes made a kick save. A scramble ensued and Whitney Ruff flicked a pass to Provencher, who had positioned herself on the post. The forward lifted a shot in to the cage, with 5:09 left to play in the opening frame.

“We’ve been working hard on (offense),” Provencher said. “The ball gets advanced in and my job is to stay close to the post. But, I couldn’t have done it today without the help of Becca Maifeld and Nicole Burgess.”

Dirigo responded and actually had its best chance a few moments later when Megan Jordan fired the ball toward the crease, but goalie Emily Gallant alertly rushed out and kicked the ball aside. LaPointe had another swipe at the ball, but fanned and sweeper Sidney Yahn cleared it out. The Falcons went back on the offensive, with Provencer again clinging to the right post. Maifeld passed the ball across the crease and before Noyes (12 saves) could rotate over, Provencher drilled it home, with 1:52 remaining in the first half.

“The girls need to learn how to finish games,” Dirigo coach Gretchen Curtis said. “They really played well in the first half, except for those two goals near the end. But, it might be just a ‘young’ thing because (Mountain Valley) is a senior team and we have mostly sophomores. I don’t feel the final score is indicative of the way we played.”

Cougars sweeper Alyssa Charity and fullbacks Sam Blanchette and Dani Ranger were busy clearing balls out of the zone. They swarmed Mountain Valley midfielder Ayla Allen, who as was unable to create space for clean hits.

“It was frustrating,” said Allen, who displayed patience. “Dirigo was playing so many girls up that we ware unable to get the long hits that we usually do. We had played Dirigo during preseason and had handled them, but they have improved.”

This tactic opened up the outside, allowing Falcons Chelsea Bordeau and Lexi Fryover to step in and advance loose balls directly into the offensive zone. Fullbacks Makayla White and Chelsea Gavin allowed the Cougars to reach the 16-yard line only twice in the second half.

Allen and Maifeld each scored goals in final minutes to put the game away for the Falcons.