Mountain Valley goalkeeper Nora Tag deflects a shot on goal by Hanna Caprara, left, of Winthrop during Monday’s game in Rumford. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

RUMFORD — On Sept. 12, Mountain Valley couldn’t find an answer for Winthrop and lost 1-0. On Monday, the Falcons found an answer to a Winthrop goal twice and found a way to earn a 3-2 victory, handing Winthrop its first loss of the season.

“We really started to work much harder in practice because we didn’t want that to happen again,” Mountain Valley forward Rylee Sevigny said.

After an evenly-matched first 11 minutes, Winthrop forward Gia Francis scored her first of two goals on the afternoon in front of the cage amongst a myriad of players.

It appeared Monday’s game could turn into a repeat of the mid-September matchup before Faith Riddick found the back of the cage for Mountain Valley to tie the game 1-1. Sevigny drove through the Winthrop defense on the right side to find Riddick in front of cage to even the score.

The game went back and forth for the next few minutes as each team tried to find some footing. Winthrop was trying to return the Falcons’ goal, while Mountain Valley tried to take its first lead of the season against the top Class C North side.

With six minutes remaining in the first half, Winthrop moved the ball towards the cage when a pass was tipped up and over Mountain Valley goalie Abigail Gauvin to the out-reached stick of Francis to take a 2-1 lead.

Even though the Falcons found themselves behind again to the then-undefeated Ramblers, head coach Melissa Forbes didn’t waver from the game plan.

“We knew as long as we could get the ball up to the offensive circle that we would be okay,” Forbes said. “So we were trying to get the ball moving. I have a lot of fast kids so we take advantage of their speed and we tried to open this game up.”

Avery Sevigny scored just 28 seconds later with a rocket shot straight on from Winthrop goalie Alicia Bridges to tie the game at 2-2.

After the half, Mountain Valley came out aggressively. Twelve minutes into the final half, the Falcons stopped the ball from getting to Gauvin and swung it out wide to Avery Sevigny. Sevigny then brought it up and used her pace to sprint by a couple of defenders before passing a perfect through-ball to her sister Rylee for the game-winning goal in the back corner of the cage.

Rylee sensed a change in the Falcons’ demeanor in the second half and it started with herself.

“We got down a little bit when they scored but we realized that the way to get back in it was to put one right back in,” Rylee Sevigny said. “We started focusing on defense because in the first half I wasn’t even focusing on defense as well as I should’ve.”

The Falcons’ defense stayed together and even pushed the ball up a few more times, keeping it away from Winthrop’s explosive attack. It was a far-cry from September 12.

“Like everybody, they’re more comfortable on their home field,” Forbes said. “That’s huge for confidence. We’ve had three challenging games and we ended up on the other.”

As for Winthrop, realizing the goal potential of the Falcons was a positive going into Thursday’s rematch with Mountain Valley in the Mountain Valley Conference championship game.

“We are a turf team so it’ll be fun to play them again,” Winthrop head coach Jessica Merrill said. “We had a hard time getting around their defense and I think their intensity level picked up. They played a great game and they beat us to the ball… We’ve been going through the motions a little bit so this is a good reality check.”

Bre Feeney, left, of Winthrop High School and Cloey Ledesma of Mountain Valley battle for the ball during Monday’s game in Rumford. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Katie Perkins of Winthrop High School attempts to get the ball from Rylee Sevigny of Mountain Valley during Monday’s game in Rumford. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal) 

Moriah Hajduk of Winthrop High School moves the ball up the field against Mountain Valley in Rumford on Monday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)