FIELD HOCKEY

Lakers 2, Kennebunk 1: With a roster at 18, Laker Coach Pauline Webb knows that last thing her team can afford is an injury.

Last Tuesday’s visit to Kennebunk certainly started on a down note. Spencer True was hit by a deflected ball while defending during warm-ups and suffered a fracture to her thumb on her right hand.

So, first-year player senior Alizah Thayer had to jump in.

“That left me with no subs for the rest of the game,” Coach Webb said.

We were down 1-0 at the half, Kennebunk took a 1-0 lead into halftime scoring with just 1:26 left.

The Lakers played with determination and their hard work and team play lead to a penalty corner opportunity created by freshman Olivia Deschenes. Sophomore Liz Cole was able to finish a pass from Deschenes to tie it up with 6:25 left in regulation.

Kennebunk took a timeout, which gave the LR girls an opportunity for a little breather. With four plus minutes left in the game, freshman Dessi Berry scored the winning goal by rebounding a ball off the Kennebunk goalie’s pads.

LR senior goalie Meghan VanLoan turned aside 15 Ram shots.

Lakers 2, Poland 1: “What a great game by both teams!” Coach Webb said of last Thursday’s meeting between the Lakers and Knights.

Scoreless at the half, Poland broke the ice with 21:24 left in the game.

Laker midfielders — lead by Molly Christensen and Bridgette Letarte — driving game was A-plus against the Knights and set up senior leader Abby Scott-Mitchell to take the ball down the wing to create a scoring chance.

“Abby’s speed and one-on-one moves were spectacular as she connected twice with freshman Olivia Deschenes,” Coach Webb said.

Deschenes converted a pass from Scott-Mitchell to tie the contest with 10:45 left and notched the wining goal with 6:21 remaining.

“Maggie Scarlett stepped up her game in the second half and was big on defense for us. Rachel Bell played a critical dual role by stepping up as midfielder when one of the mids needed a breather,” Coach Webb said. “The girls definitely left everything on the field!”

Laker netminder Meghan VanLoan was another big reason the team pulled out the victory, stopping 20 shots off 13 Poland penalty corner chances (the Knights had several consecutive corner opportunities).

Cape Elizabeth 2, Lakers 1: Saturday was the first time Coach Webb sensed some nerves from her squad this season as the Lakers visited Cape Elizabeth.

It showed in the first half as the Lakers played very tentatively.

“This wasn’t the same team that played against Poland two days before,” Coach Webb said.

Cape built a 2-0 lead in the first half, and the Lakers suffered another key injury. Senior Abby Scott-Mitchell went down when a Cape player tripped her up in the offensive circle during the first half. Abby suffered a pulled muscle and was unable to return to the game.

“I looked at freshman Kelsey Apovian on the bench who had joined the team late and said, ‘Ready Kelsey?’ Ready or not, she had to go,” Coach Webb said.

With three “very inexperienced” players on the field and down 2-0 to start the second half, Coach Webb looked at everyone and asked them to dig deep and step it up.

“I asked them, ‘Who’s going to step up and make something happen? I know several of you can. Who’s going to do it?’” she said.

Freshman Olivia Deschenes — who Coach Webb describes as “a tough kid and a workhorse out there” — answered the challenge.

Junior mid Molly Christensen sent a pass to Olivia, who finessed her way into the circle and fired a drive past the Cape netminder with 19:05 left.

Sophomore Liz Cole also answered the coach’s challenge.

“Liz played the best I’ve ever seen her play; she responded to my challenge. She’s strong and has good speed, and the second half she played with confidence, beating Cape players one-on-one and using her speed to bring the ball up the wing,” Coach Webb said. “We had a few close calls to tie the game up, but it wasn’t meant to be for us. I don’t like to lose, but I have to say, under the circumstances,  to come out of that game with a score of 2-1, I have no doubt with a healthy squad we can beat them.”

Goalie Meghan VanLoan recorded 10 saves.

Next: The Lakers (3-3) travel to Greely on Friday, and host Freeport on Tuesday. Both games begin at 4 p.m.

CROSS-COUNTRY

Two weeks ago, Audrey Blais ran Lake Region’s course in 19 minutes 19 seconds. She was significantly better last Friday.

Blais posted the third fastest time on the 2.95-mile course, winning in 18:41.

“Audrey is very dedicated and focused on becoming a great high school runner. I am really proud of her,” Laker Coach Dan Dors said. “She is very strong and is going to be one of the top girls in the Western Maine Conference.”

Sister Addie Blais ran a 20:25 to earn seventh place in the 32-runner field.

“Not bad for someone who had been out for five days due to being sick. Addie ran her best time of the year — down 25 seconds from two weeks ago,” Coach Dors said. “She will be very competitive if she stays healthy and injury free.”

The Lakers also received a strong performance from freshman Chandler True, who recorded a 22:57 for 15th place.

“Chandler is working hard and it is going to pay off,” Coach Dors said. “She is very dedicated and focused.”

Rounding out the Laker field was Jen Springer, who ran a 29:16.

“It was a great performance since Jen took 2½ minutes off her previous run on this course,” Coach Dors added. “I am very proud of the girls because they are always at practice and are working very hard. If we could only get three more girls (Christine Morin was out due to injury), we would be in the running with the best in the conference.”

Teams need five finishers to figuring in the overall scoring.

Final standings: Waynflete 19, Wells 43, Traip Academy 68, Lake Region no score.

On the boys’ side, Ben Wright of Wells set the time to beat in 16:45. For the Lakers, Nick Scarlett had the best time in 18:41, good for 15th followed by AJ Scammon inn 23:08 and Kyle Mammana in 23:25.

Final standings: Wells 15, Waynflete 40, Lake Region no score, Traip Academy no score.

Next: The Lakers travel to Greely this Friday to meet the Rangers, Cape Elizabeth, Waynflete and Yarmouth, beginning at 4:30 p.m.

BOYS’ SOCCER

Wells 4, Lakers 1: Lake Region traveled to Wells last Tuesday with the JV squad getting their first regular season win, 1-0 on a goal scored by freshman Cutter Meeker.

The Laker varsity played well, but were downed by Wells 4-1.

Wells was able to get on the board midway through the first half and then again shortly after making it 2-0.

Laker senior Magnus Holms connected on a direct kick from about 50 yards away from the goal to beat the Wells keeper over his head to net the Lakers’ first goal of the season, making it 2-1 at halftime.

Wells added two more goals to secure a 4-1 win.

• The Lakers dropped a 6-1 loss to Gray-New Gloucester last Thursday. Ethan Green scored the Lakers’ goal. Laker netminder Michael Rust had seven saves.

Next: The Lakers (0-3) host Waynflete tonight, Sept. 18, at 6 p.m. The Lakers then travel to Traip Academy in Kittery on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. game.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Lakers 4, Gray-NG 3: Lead by a hat trick from junior Madison Simms, the Lakers pulled out a thrilling 4-3 win over Gray-New Gloucester last Friday night at Naples.

Simms opened the scoring for Lake Region at 12:31 of the first half assisted by Melody Millet, but the Patriots answered and took a 2-1 lead into the locker room behind goals from Kaelyn Woods and Sarah Giggey, who converted beautifully from a strong throw-in from Maria Valente.

Simms netted her second goal of the game, assisted by CeCe Hancock, tying the score at 2-2 at 33:15 of the second half and put the Lakers ahead with her third score of the evening at 12:30 assisted by Megan Boos.  The Patriots applied pressure and knotted the score at 3-3 on a goal from Hannah Dixon with 1:25 to play. But, Laker sophomore Kristen Huntress, assisted by Melody Millet, hit the game winner with 23 seconds remaining for the 4-3 victory.

Senior Isabel Scribner made 8 saves for the Lakers, while Zoe Adams made 6 stops for the Patriots.

Next: The Lakers travel to Waynflete on Friday for a 3:30 p.m. game, and then host Traip Academy on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 6 p.m.

VARSITY GOLF

The Lakers had a good week on the fairways, capturing wins over Old Orchard Beach, Poland and Sacopee Valley.

• At Poland Spring (par 34), the Lakers edged Poland 4-3. Collecting wins were Evan Kellough with a round of 48 (up 7), Ryan Hodgdon 63 (up 2) and Evan Sanborn 52 (up 8). Tyler Walker lost a close battle with Ethan Mason, 447-45. Nick Scarlet shot a 61, nine strokes back of Brad Thurlow.

LR 201, Poland 202.

Walker’s 47 was good enough to beat Sacopee, while Kellough tied Jamie Gaugham for earn a half point. Other LR scorers were: Scarlett, up five strokes; Hodgdon up 13; Sully Tidd shot a 54, up 38; and Sanborn, up 25.

LR 201, Sacopee 267.

• At Dunegrass (par 36), Walker shot a match best 44 to win by five strokes. Kellough fired a 57, up seven strokes as the #2 player, while Tidd, Scarlett and Hodgdon each recorded a point with wins in their respective rounds.

Sanborn lost his match, down eight strokes with a 59.

Tidd shot a 55, up seven; Scarlett a 54, up 48; and Hodgdon a 57, up 14.

LR 210, Old Orchard 226.

The Lakers improved to 3-2.

VARSITY FOOTBALL

Mountain Valley 38, Lakers 6: The Lakers saw more yellow than they would have liked Friday night in Rumford.

Penalties proved very costly to the Lakers, as flags erased two scores.

The Lakers also were unable to corral the Falcons’ ground game as Kyle Farrar torched the visitors for 253 yards and five touchdowns.

The Falcons were eager to avenge last year’s 20-6 loss to the Lakers, and showed they were amped up on the first play of the game as Farrar broke right and raced 66 yards for a touchdown.

The Lakers had a tough time moving the ball against the Falcons’ front, managing just 123 rushing yards (Kyle DeSouza had 54 yards while Gunnar Harriman lugged the ball for 52 yards). Yet, the Lakers could have made the game interesting had two big plays by Quinn Piland stood. Piland picked off a MV pass and returned it for a score, but the touchdown was negated due a pass interference call. Piland also returned a kickoff for a score, but the Lakers were flagged for an illegal block in the back. Eventually, Piland had a big run stand when he scored on a 90-yard kickoff return in the final quarter.

This time, no flag.

The Lakers were 6-of-12 passing the ball, but the connections were of the short gain variety — 35 total yards. Meanwhile, the LR offense was out gained 158 to 355.

Next: The Lakers (0-2) travel to Yarmouth Friday night to meet the Clippers (1-1) at 7 p.m. Yarmouth won their opener, 41-0 over Gray-New Gloucester, but dropped a 20-12 loss to Leavitt last week.