RUMFORD – There was no hesitation by Lisbon field hockey coach Mark Stevens about his team’s strength at midfield.

A pair of goals by Kristal Robishaw in the first half was enough as Lisbon relied on a revamped defense for a 2-0 victory against Mountain Valley.

Lisbon (3-2) dominated the first 30 minutes, but the latter stages were controlled by Mountain Valley (1-2-1), which produced several scoring opportunities.

Greyhound backs Heather Parry, Kelley Baickle, Rachel LaGloahec and Kait Dingley foiled the attack by stepping up to block shots. Goalie Rachel Beal (five saves) kicked the other shots away.

“The action was back-and-forth,” Stevens said. “We carried play because our midfielders got back and helped the transition game. Still, there was no quit in Mountain Valley because they came back strong in the second half.”

After battling Jay to a scoreless tie Monday, the Falcons had solid scoring opportunities from Sara Marin, Stephaine Beadle, Courtney Watts, Lauren LePage and Katlin Drury. The lack of rebounds kept the Falcons from getting second chances.

Robishaw opened the scoring when her shot beat Falcons goalie Kim Clark to the far corner. Lisbon’s quick transition had the Falcons defenses backpedaling.

The Greyhounds called a strategic time out to set up a penalty corner shot. Kala Michaud advanced the ball on the left and Robishaw redirected it into the right corner.

“We practiced hard the last two days,” said Lisbon wing Amanda Stevens, who had scored a hat trick in Lisbon’s last game. “I thought we played well, and the difference defensively was the return of Kait Dingley who had been injured.”

The Falcons applied plenty of pressure, and Drury made her presence known by roaming all over the field. This prompted the Greyhounds to mark Drury one-on-one with Katy Fitzgerald.

“The second half was a different story,” Mountain Valley coach Melissa Forbes said. “We had seen what Lisbon was doing and we’ll learn from it. At halftime, I told the girls that we needed to be more aggressive, cut-off passes, and step up.”