KEEPING THE HEAT ON OPPOSING DEFENSES — Lake Region moved into the top spot in the Class B West Heal Ratings this week following their ninth straight win, a 4-1 victory over Greely as four different players figured in the scoring including Elizabeth Schreiber (pictured). (Rivet Photo)

FIELD HOCKEY

More than likely, Coach Lisa Shane, as well as her counterpart, Dede Frost at Fryeburg Academy, downplayed yesterday’s big clash between the two schools as just another game on the schedule.

Well, it was certainly more than that.

Dating back to when the two rivals started playing field hockey, Wednesday was the first time ever that the two squads entered a meeting undefeated and ranked 1-2 in the Class B Heal Ratings, according to long-time Laker Coach Linda Whitney.

The Lakers set the stage with a 4-1 victory Monday over Greely to improve to 9-0. The win also propelled the Lakers into the top spot.

Spruce Mountain had occupied the top ranking for several weeks, mainly on the strength of having played two more games than the Lakers and Fryeburg Academy. With the Raiders also remaining undefeated at 8-0, FA moved up into second place, while Spruce dropped to fourth behind York.

It’s a tight race for the top seed with the Lakers at 55.8752, the Raiders at 54.9058 and York at 53.188.

A lot could change in a week or so time as the Lakers play Fryeburg twice and York once.

The Lakers showed good offensive balance as four players — Lucy Fowler, Kayleigh Lepage, Elizabeth Schreiber and Tori Girardin — scored.

Last week was a good one for the Lakers, claiming wins over York, Wells and Greely.

“York was a tremendous game for the girls as we have a great deal of respect for their program,” Coach Shane said. “So, to go there and play as well as they did and win it 2-1 in the last seven seconds was certainly a momentum builder.”

Junior Meghan Skarbinski scored the winning goal (a daily newspaper account credited the goal to Tori Girardin.

“Tori was right beside her (Meghan) sweeping it in after it crossed the line, according to the referee I spoke with after the game,” Coach Shane said.

Lucy Fowler scored in the first half, assisted by Schreiber. Goalie Meghan Van Loan had one save.

“We received persistent defensive work in our midfield by Miranda Chadbourne, Kayleigh Lepage, Kate Cutting and Kristina Morton, which was key,” Coach Shane said.

Against Wells during Homecoming on Saturday, the Lakers got off to a slow start.

“Once the team talked over how to focus on our plays, we picked it up,” Coach Shane said.

LR leading scorer Lucy Fowler scored all three goals in the shutout win. Coach Shane was pleased with the performances turned in by forward Elizabeth Schreiber and halfbacks Casey Heath and Kristina Morton, who helped make important transitions when it was needed.

Sophomore Meghan Van Loan turned away “a questionable penalty stroke” and recorded three saves.

Up next: Today (Sept. 27), the Lakers host seventh-seeded Yarmouth (5-3-1) at 4 p.m. The Lakers travel to Gray-New Gloucester on Tuesday, then close out the regular season with home games against York (Oct. 4 at 4 p.m.) and Fryeburg Academy (Oct. 9 at 3:30 p.m.).

TRIPPED UP — Lake Region senior captain Sydney Hancock is tripped up by a Sacopee Valley player during Saturday's Homecoming game. Hancock later scored on a penalty kick to give the Lakers a 1-0 win. (Rivet Photo)

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Senior Sydney Hancock has practiced “the kick” many times.

“You can’t be nervous and you can’t have jitters. You just place the ball on the line and you place the ball where you want it,” the Laker senior said after successfully converting a penalty kick to beat Sacopee Valley 1-0 on Homecoming Saturday at Art Kilborn Athletic Complex.

“There is no mind game going on,” she said. “If you place it perfectly, you’re going to beat the goalie.”

Hancock’s kick was indeed perfect, sailing into the top left corner for the contest’s lone score.

The game featured more defense than offense.

“We had a hard time connecting on all three levels — defense, midfield and forward line. In the end, we started to get so many opportunities and we knew that eventually, we would get one to go in if we worked real hard,” Hancock said. “Every win matters, especially when we have to compete against teams like Falmouth and Greely. So, this was a super important win.”

The Lakers (2-3-1) nearly broke the ice early in the second half when Tiana-Jo Carter rang a shot off the crossbar.

“The game was well played by both teams. Despite Homecoming enthusiasm, we came out somewhat hesitant and really didn’t apply much pressure until the midway point of the first half,” LR Coach Lynne Harrison said. “It really was anyone’s game with both teams having quality scoring opportunities.”

Coach Harrison felt the Lakers received consistent play from offensive players Lexi Crawford  and Sydney Hancock, while Ali Kepler and Kasey Huntress played both defense and were called upon to help with midfield duties.

• The Lakers experienced a tough day in the pouring rain against York last Tuesday. Laker freshman CeCe Hancock scored at the 37:39 mark, but York went on to score the next four goals.

“We had a difficult time stopping the midfield play of York’s Kayla Swasey, who scored three of York’s four goals,” Coach Harrison said. “While our defenders were able to contain her, we simply could not prevent her deadly accurate shot from just outside the 18.”

LR goalie Sarah Hancock turned in a tremendous game despite having just returned from a separated shoulder injury.

• The Lakers were blanked by Cape Elizabeth 6-0 on Monday.

Up next: The Lakers travel to Gray-New Gloucester on Friday for a 6 p.m. game, and head to Old Orchard Beach on Tuesday, Oct. 2, for a 6 p.m. game.

CHIP SHOT PAST THE HAWKS — Lake Region senior Jeremy Leavitt chips a shot for a score past Sacopee Valley. (Rivet Photo)

BOYS’ SOCCER

Senior Mike Mageles had his best Homecoming game ever Saturday.

The LR captain scored three goals, including an acrobatic header, to lead the Lakers to their first victory of the season, a 7-4 decision over Sacopee Valley at Art Kilborn Athletic Complex. The win snapped a five-game losing skid.

“I usually run to the far post (off a corner kick) most of the time. Brody (Stofflet) and I made eye contact before the kick, and he kept the ball low where I wanted it and I was able to put it in the net,” Mageles said. “Our offensive presence was much better today. Usually, we don’t possess the ball through the midfield well, but today, we were much better. Our forwards were back checking the ball and making runs at the right time. It wasn’t our best defensive game, but we scored enough today to get the win.”

Early in the season, the Lakers struggled to manufacture scoring chances. Over the last few games, the Lakers have possessed the ball better and have taken more shots, Mageles said.

The Lakers got off to a big start, scoring three times — behind Mageles and exchange student Adam Falk — over a short stretch of the first half.

“Having Adam up front is fantastic. You could see when he wasn’t there, we really didn’t get a lot of offense going. He moves well to open spaces and gets the ball up the field very well. He’s been a great addition,” Mageles said.

But, Sacopee would later answer, making the game rather tight in the second half.

ADDING SOME FRONT LINE PUNCH — Exchange student Adam Falk has added some spark to the Lake Region offense, scoring a pair of goals against Sacopee Valley on Saturday. (Rivet Photo)

“When they scored, I wasn’t really that worried because we’ve been resilient all year and even when we’ve been down by large deficits, we kept playing hard. Today, we answered their goals. It was a lot of fun,” Mageles said. “We knew we were playing well, so even though we made some mistakes and they capitalized, we didn’t panic.”

• The Lakers (1-6) dropped a 5-1 loss to Cape Elizabeth on Monday.

Up next: The Lakers host Gray-New Gloucester on Friday at 6 p.m., and Poland on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

CROSS COUNTRY

Both Laker squads found themselves in the fourth spot last week at Gray-New Gloucester.

Mark MacDougall was the leading Laker with a 15th place finish in the 48-boy field in 19:58 over the three-mile course (winning time was 17:21). Freshman Tim Cronin posted his best run to date with a 20:43 to take 21st place. Other finishers were:

29. Mason Kluge-Edwards, 22:19

30. Kyle DeSouza, 22:33

38. Ben Roy, 23:22

42. James McCann, 25:05

Final team standings: Cape Elizabeth 21, Yarmouth 47, Gray-NG 60, Lake Region 103.

Again, the Laker girls were represented by Maude Meeker and Kari Eldridge.

“The odds are against them, but they always give 100%,” said LR Coach Dan Dors, who hopes to see two more runners return to action this week.

Meeker was 18th in 25:07 while Eldridge was 31st in 27:55. Winning time was 21:37 in the 42-girl field.

Final team standings: Yarmouth 18, Cape Elizabeth 46, Gray-NG 69, Lake Region no score.

Up next: The Lakers host Fryeburg Academy and Sacopee Valley this Friday with the boys opening at 4:30 p.m. followed by the girls at 5 p.m.

FOOTBALL

Marshwood put a damper on Lake Region’s Homecoming game with a 35-13 victory, but the Hawks were actually very cordial guests.

Building an early 35-0 lead, which included an interception returned for a touchdown, the Hawks (4-0) had a chance to tack on another touchdown in the closing minute of the first half — but declined to pile it on. With the ball at the LR-5, the Hawks took a delay of game penalty and then took a knee to end the half.

Using a number of secondary players over the final 24 minutes, the Hawks kept the game competitive and entertaining from a Laker standpoint as senior quarterback Mike Triglione was able to bust free from 45 yards out for a touchdown, and junior Cody Gibbons later found pay dirt from inside the 20.

“We battled one of the best Class B teams in the state. The team was able to stay focused despite all of the excitement of Homecoming week and fought hard until the end,” Laker Coach Brian Jahna said. “Although we lost, the fact that we won the second half 13-0 speaks to the high character of this team and their refusal to quit.”

Coach Jahna said his club continues to miss a number of assignments, but he sees the team making some positive strides.

“We will improve now that we can start getting more repetitions of things that we know and spend less time putting in new plays,” the coach said. “We need to get our linemen healthy. Our roster has grown overall, but we will be dressing three fewer linemen than we did two weeks ago.”

Up next: The Lakers (0-4) hit the road this Friday to play Falmouth at 7 p.m. The Yachtsmen also are 0-4, coming off a 30-14 loss to Cape Elizabeth. Falmouth has been shutout twice this season and scored just 28 points.