RUMFORD — Winthrop asserted its dominance early in Friday’s field hockey game at Hosmer Athletic Complex.
The Ramblers four times in the opening 10 minutes and rolled to an 11-0 victory against Mountain Valley.
The defending Class C state champions also scored four goals in the first quarter of their previous game, an 11-1 win over Boothbay on Wednesday.
“We got off to a quick start on Wednesday, and I think (the players) know how it feels to start the way we want to start,” Winthrop coach Sharon Coulton said. “I don’t think (starting slow) has been an issue (this season), but we had a game against Hall-Dale where we didn’t score in the first quarter — that’s something I don’t expect from them.”
Sophomore Madeline Wagner scored five goals to pace Winthrop (6-1), which has won six straight games. Three of her goals were set up by teammates.
“Obviously, my teammates (helped), that’s pretty encouraging,” Wagner said. “It gave me motivation.”
Bella Littler opened the scoring 52 seconds into the first quarter, putting home the rebound after Mountain Valley goalie Brooke Brown (13 saves) made a save on the initial shot.
Littler set up Wagner’s first goal two minutes later for a 2-0 lead.
Lauryn Wood scored an unassisted effort nearly six minutes into the first quarter to make it 3-0. The Falcons regrouped after the goal.
“I really wanted to let girls play and let them figure it out, because they are high school players — they should be able to,” Mountain Valley coach Allie Belaire said. “I called a timeout after the third goal just to understand what their mindset was. Three goals in (about six minutes) is really going to set you back in your mind. I just wanted to reset them and go play their game.”
Belaire said the Falcons (2-3-1) improved their spacing on the field and started passing the ball more to each other.
Wagner added her second goal of the contest 9:10 into the first quarter for a 4-0 lead.
Wagner scored two more goals late in the second quarter, both off of penalty corners, and Winthrop took a 6-0 lead into halftime.
Wood put home a loose ball early in the third quarter, then Emma Shuman scored in the middle of the quarter to extend the lead to 8-0.
Mountain Valley had its best offensive chances early in the fourth quarter when they had back-to-back penalty corners and fired two shots on Winthrop goalie Madison Weymouth, who finished with three saves.
“It did make us feel good and it shows my girls don’t give up, and they should never give up,” Belaire said. “It showed we persevered through a lot of adversity and disadvantages.”
Littler scored her second goal in the middle of the final quarter, and Isabella Folsom added another goal to make the score 10-0.
Wagner capped the scoring with her fifth goal of the game.
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