WINTHROP — There’s danger in allowing a championship-caliber field hockey program to hang around in a game that you’ve dominated. The peril is magnified when that opponent has been stewing over retribution for, oh, about 11 months.
Winthrop delivered a one-two knockout punch after a Thursday afternoon of ducking Lisbon’s best haymakers. Seniors Emma Spahr and Rachel Ingram each scored in the final 8:20 — Ingram’s game-winner coming with 78 seconds remaining in regulation — and the Ramblers avenged a loss in the 2012 Class C final by tripping the Greyhounds, 2-1.
It was the fifth one-goal victory of the season for Winthrop (7-1). Reigning state champion Lisbon (6-1-1) had won six straight MVC contests after a season-opening tie with Spruce Mountain by an aggregate score of 33-4.
“I think we really proved ourselves. This is huge for us,” Ingram said. “We were really fired up after that first one, so we were ready to score again.”
Ingram also assisted Spahr’s goal off a penalty corner. Prior to that, the Greyhounds were in control, peppering Ramblers senior goaltender Alyssa Arsenault and rarely letting the ball escape Winthrop’s defensive zone for more than a few seconds a time.
Arsenault made 18 saves, allowing only Arianna Kahler’s goal with 4:08 left in the first half. Lisbon outshot Winthrop 16-2 prior to the closing flurry and 19-5 overall.
“Alyssa kept us in the game early. She dove for the ball. She wasn’t feeling well most of the game,” said Jess Merrill, Winthrop’s first year head coach. “She stepped it up. She was the all-conference goalie last year, and she really looked like it today. This is the best she’s played all season. She’s just a beast.”
In addition to her lingering case of nausea — “Right now it’s gone,” Arsenault said afterward with a smile — the goalie’s helmet also broke during pre-game.
“It was a little nerve-wracking at times, but defense stepped up and underclassmen stepped up and did what we needed to do,” Arsenault said. “It feels really good to beat them. It meant a lot. We were all fired up. We played as a team today. We all clicked.”
Cat Ouellette, sisters Micaela and Katriona Hajduk and Kelsey Stoneton were huge defensively for the Ramblers, both contesting shots and making hard hits to steer the ball out of harm’s way.
Their efforts in the circle prompted Lisbon to go with a long-range philosophy after intermission, unleashing shots from the perimeter and hoping for a deflection. Twice the ball trickled past Arsenault into the cage, but without a touch-up, there was no goal.
“It was a little frustrating in the second half when we had opportunities,” Lisbon coach Julie Wescott said. “If you watch and you don’t tap the ball in … You know you’ve got to touch the ball in the circle. We just didn’t do that enough today.”
And back stormed Winthrop, first when Ingram found Spahr at the end of a triangle-shaped passing sequence.
“Our original play off the corner didn’t work,” Ingram said. “I got the ball and I saw that Emmah was wide open.”
Spahr returned the favor late in the game, finding Ingram one-on-one with a Lisbon defender just on the other side of midfield.
Ingram won the foot race, eluded two Greyhounds waiting in the shadow of the goal and rattled the cage to send the home crowd and bench into a frenzy.
“It was revenge for them. They refused to lose today. They just did so well,” Merrill said. “We’ve been talking all week about keeping it in perspective, that it’s only one game for better or for worse, but that’s really hard to do against Lisbon. We kept our emotions in check. We kept to our game plan.”
Merrill took over this season from Sharon Coulton, for whom she was an understudy the past three years. Coulton, who celebrated more than 300 wins in 32 years at the helm, is now Merrill’s assistant.
Bailey Cutler set up Kahler’s goal for the Greyhounds.
She also headlined the defensive effort along with Jenn Smith, Michaela Bedell and Sarah Craig to preserve the long-standing, one-goal lead.
“I just think we had a lull for a couple of minutes and they took advantage of it,” Wescott said. “They played hard the whole game. I’m going to completely credit them. They didn’t stop and we did at times, and they capitalized on it.”
koakes@sunjournal.com
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