By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

LUCY HAD THE HOT STICK — Lake Region’s Lucy Fowler (right) is congratulated by teammate Kayleigh Lepage after scoring one of two goals on the day as the Lakers blanked Yarmouth 4-0 in the prelim round of the Class B West field hockey playoffs Saturday. (Rivet Photo)

Rain rarely is helpful to a sports team, but Mother Nature may have done Lake Region a big favor.

Forced to practice inside the gym last Friday due to rain, the Lake Region field hockey team was forced to “quicken” their game.

That faster pace carried over to Saturday’s Class B West prelim field hockey playoff game against Yarmouth.

Senior Monica Couvillion scored four minutes into the game off a crossing pass from senior Alice Sanborn as the Lakers rolled past Yarmouth 4-0 to advance to today’s quarterfinal game at top-seeded York. Game time is 3 p.m.

Just a few weeks ago, the Lakers and Clippers played to a scoreless tie on Yarmouths’ turf field. This time around, the Lakers were sharper and played the game at a quicker pace.

“New game. New season. New attack. We had a new mentality working, and they really worked hard,” Lake Region Coach Dagny Leland said. “We played to their level (in the scoreless tie). We didn’t play fast. We didn’t play our game. It wasn’t like us to not play well there, because we love their (turf) field. It depends on the day. We’re starting to get it. We played indoors because of the rain, and I think it helped us to play and be mentally faster. Everyone is working toward a quicker start.”

The Lakers pinned ninth-ranked Yarmouth (6-7-2) in their own end for most of the first half. LR nearly netted a second goal when sophomore Miranda Chadbourne made a strong crossing pass to sophomore Meghan Skarbinski, whose quick flick was just turned aside.

“Miranda plays up to her potential. She doesn’t give up. She’s a very good mid. She has a strong flick, she goes for the ball. Nothing bothers her. She had several nice centering crosses,” Coach Leland said.

With 4:55 left, sophomore midfielder Lucy Fowler one-time a drive from the left wing to make it 2-0.

A minute later, senior forward Chelcie Murch made it 3-0 as she maneuvered past two defenders and fired a low drive to the goalie’s left for the score.

“Our girls certainly wanted it today. There have been times in the past when we seemed to hesitate. Today, we didn’t hesitate,” Coach Leland said. “Our halfbacks played very well today, covering the ball. It all came together.”

Lake Region stayed “up” in the second half, continuing to press the issue. Junior midfielder Kayleigh Lepage set up several good scoring chances, including a chance by Sanborn who had two drives denied.

With 23:47 left in the game, Fowler made it 4-0 when she snapped a pass from Murch into the left corner.

LR goalie Shannon Van Loan had four saves.

Now, can the Lakers (7-5-3) take their game to the next level against top-ranked York?

“We scored on them. We dominated the first half,” said Coach Leland in reference to their last meeting when the Lakers took a 1-0 lead, but fell to the Wildcats 3-1. “We took charge, and said, ‘Wow, we can do this.’ York then woke up.”

Coach Leland said the key to a possible LR upset yesterday would be, “Defensively, we need to keep our sticks down and as they come into the zone, we need to follow and attack.”