WINTHROP – At least until this latest incarnation of the perennial powerful Winthrop High School field hockey program gets a few Mountain Valley Conference contests under its belt, experience will be a weak link.
Skill, persistence and aggression, on the other hand, won’t be any problem whatsoever.
Even when the Ramblers have hit one of the expected speed bumps early this fall, any shortcomings on the scoreboard have been outweighed by their insistence on swinging away until the final whistle.
That tenacity produced a 5-1 win over Boothbay on Monday afternoon, crafting a final score that was more reflective of Winthrop’s dominance after the Seahawks stymied the Ramblers to a 1-1 stalemate at the half.
“You worry about that sometimes with a young team,” said Winthrop coach Sharon Coulton, who’s building much of her 25th team at the school from scratch. “You think they might have a tendency to sit back.”
Instead, the Ramblers rattled the cage four times in less than 12 minutes to take command. Sophomore Brianna Tupper and junior Brittany Gaudet each scored twice during the onslaught.
Kristi Zimmerman got on the board in the first half for Winthrop (3-1), which bounced back from its first regular-season loss in almost two years, a 2-1 verdict Friday at Lisbon.
Winthrop’s numbers that afternoon showed that the Ramblers fired almost twice as many shots as the Greyhounds and lined up four times as many penalty corners.
“We just got caught playing from behind,” said Coulton.
Zimmerman saved Winthrop from a similar situation against the Seahawks (1-3) by getting the Ramblers on the board less than eight minutes into the game.
Twenty saves by Boothbay goalkeeper Brittany Dickinson stemmed the tide before the break, however, and Ali Hartley’s goal off a penalty stroke with 10:40 until intermission kept the Seahawks a little too close for the Ramblers’ comfort.
Coulton bid farewell to 14 seniors, including her entire defense, after last season. Three-year starter Meghan McCarthy and senior Kelli Lascko are the only other Ramblers who saw significant varsity time until this summer.
“This is a young team, and those (frustrating halves) are going to happen,” Coulton said.
“A lot of our shots I guess you could say are overly enthusiastic. But if they continue playing with that kind of energy, eventually they’re going to score goals.”
Tupper picked up the game-winner at 8:16 of the second half on a scramble in front of the cage after Dickinson made three more brilliant kick saves in rapid succession. She finished with 36 stops.
Jess Martin assisted two goals for Winthrop. Tupper and McCarthy each set up another tally.
Junior Sarah Giampetro and sophomore Erika Sargent combined for 11 saves to share the victory for Winthrop.
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