“I feel we are definitely ready for the playoffs,” Mt. Blue coach Jody Harmon said. “We have been moving forward in a positive way.”

Mt. Blue (9-4-1) has posted seven shutouts in it’s last eight games, none more effective than Tuesday against an intense effort from Oxford Hills (6-6-2).

“We made some excellent saves on defense, we cleared to the outside and made some very good stops,” Harmon said. “We were able to stop their momentum with our strong defensive game.”

Buoyed by the stellar play of midfielder Erin Morton the Vikings were relentless in attack during the final 15 minutes of the game, forcing Cougars goalkeeper Erika McArthur and her defensive corps into action.

“I wished she (Morton) would be a little selfish,” Oxford Hills coach Cindy Goddard said. “She needs to be our go-to player, and today she was excellent.”

Morton and her teammates, however, were unable to break into the scoring column against a stout Cougar defense of Kayleigh Fontaine, Gracie Foss, Jordyn Lawrence and Emilee Eustis.

“Our passing game is starting to get better and our intensity level really picked up,” Goddard said. “We played hard to the end.”

Mt. Blue carried play during the first half with Vikings goalkeeper Anna Huff coming out of the cage to boot away six Cougar threats with excellent kick saves. Hannah Minns broke the ice with 2:47 left in the first half, when the midfielder broke into the circle, firing a shot from eight yards into the left side of the cage for a 1-0 lead.

Eight minutes into the game, Minns had made a similar move into the circle only to fire a shot off the right post. The talented sophomore finished the first half taking five of Mt. Blue’s seven shots.

Mt. Blue went on the attack early in the second half, mounting serious threats that featured outstanding combination passes and give-and-goes in the offensive half of the field.

“We had some moments where our passing was excellent,” Harmon said. “We created a number of scoring opportunities, but we don’t seem to be able to take advantage of those chances.”

Following a scramble in front of the cage, where Huff made two quality stops, Mt. Blue found an opening to push the lead to 2-0. Abby Wallace slid a short pass across the mouth of the goal to Rebecca Harmon to double the Cougars lead.

Mt. Blue ended the game with a 15-8 shot advantage. McArthur collected three saves in the Cougar goal.

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