Simmons’ goal in second OT sends Foxcroft to regional final

No. 1 Ponies 
scheduled to face
second seed Winslow Tuesday at Hampden

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — With just over two minutes to go in regulation the Mount View High School of Thorndike field hockey team did what no other squad had done all season as the Mustangs scored against Foxcroft Academy, tying the Saturday, Oct. 26 Class C East semifinal at 1-1 and setting up overtime between the No. 1 Ponies and fourth-seeded Mount View.

Observer photos/Stuart Hedstrom

    GOING TO THE GOAL AND REGIONAL FINAL — A second overtime was needed between No. 1 Foxcroft Academy and fourth-seeded Mount View of Thorndike during the Class C East semifinal on Oct. 26 in Dover-Foxcroft. Nearly a minute into the second session Foxcroft junior Abigail Simmons got a hold of loose ball as she broke away from Mount View seniors Caitlin Poulin (18) and Brittany Moody (5) with Pony junior Fern Morrison behind.

Simmons was cheered on by her teammates, above right, as she ended up putting the ball in the goal for the game-winner, and advance Foxcroft to the Class C East final on Tuesday, Oct. 29 in Hampden against No. 2 Winslow.

    Foxcroft (15-0-1) would avenge the end of the team’s scoreless streak of nearly 16 full games by scoring in the second overtime to move on the Class C East championship game and ending Mount View’s (11-5) season
    Neither team could score in the first 8-minute session of bonus 7-on-7 field hockey as the two defenses prevented the opposition from getting a shot off following a penalty corner. After the a two-minute break Foxcroft and Mount View switched sides, with the Pony offense looking to get the ball toward the western side of the team’s home field at the Mustang goal — one way or another the Oct. 26 would be the final home game for the Ponies.
    In the first minute of the second overtime Foxcroft junior Abigail Simmons got a hold of a loose ball on her team’s side of the field. With only six players out of the goal for the two teams, Simmons took advantage of the open turf by quickly turning upfield and getting away from Mount View defenders senior Caitlin Poulin and junior Brittany Moody.
    Simmons’ fancy stick work enabled her to cross midfield and head directly at the Mustang goal. As she approached, Mount View junior keeper Dinah Bilodeau came out to play the ball in the hopes of clearing it harmlessly away.
    The strategy backfired as Bilodeau left the goal exposed. Simmons fired off a low shot that went past Bilodeau’s pads and found its intended target in the lower right corner of the Mustang goal. The thud of the ball hitting against wood sounded a Foxcroft victory and trip to Hampden Academy for the regional championship.
    The semifinal matchup featured a scoreless first half and about 44 and a half minutes of play with zeros on both sides of the scoreboard. Near the halfway mark of the second 30-minute session, Foxcroft junior Fern Morrison got the ball in the left corner of the Mustang side of the field.
    Morrison stick handled the ball near the edge of the playing field as she approached the Mount View goal. Bilodeau protected the corner of the goal, forcing Morrison into a tough angle shot. Morrison hit the ball and the shot sailed a few inches off the ground at Bilodeau.
    The ankle-level shot slipped past the Mount View keeper and the ball landed in the goal, giving Foxcroft a 1-0 advantage at the 15:28-mark of the second half.
    With 2:15 left of the clock senior Braley Leadbetter became the first and, so far, only player to record a goal against Foxcroft this season when her shot from the left went in to tie the game and help extend her high school field hockey career. The goal against ended the Ponies’ streak of 63 unanswered goals that ran until the final minutes of the 16th game of the season. 

Observer photos/Stuart Hedstrom

    THROUGH THE DEFENSE — Getting the ball up the field is Foxcroft junior Fern Morrison, with senior teammate Mackenzie Coiley trailing. Morrison scored the first goal of the Oct. 26 semifinal, which at the time was Foxcroft’s 63rd of the season to zero allowed in over 15 and a half games.

    Mount View would put 19 shots on goal but only one landed inside the posts, as Pony junior keeper Brianna Skolfield made six saves. Foxcroft came up with 28 shots on goal, and Leadbetter had a busy day with a game-high 12 saves.
    On Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 3:30 p.m. — after presstime — Foxcroft was scheduled to face No. 2 Winslow High School in the Class C East championship at Hampden Academy’s Weatherbee Athletic Complex with the winner moving on to the state game Saturday, Nov. 2 at Yarmouth High School. Western Maine also had a meeting of the top seeds with Lisbon High School squaring off against No. 2 North Yarmouth Academy on Oct. 29.

Observer photos/Stuart Hedstrom

    NO. 1 ON ONE — Freshman Alli Bourget looks to get past Mount View senior Mykenna Groton during the Class C East semifinal on Oct. 26.

    Winslow entered the game against the Ponies with 15 victories as well with the team’s non-win being a loss to Nokomis Regional High School of Newport, one of the schools playing for the Class B East crown. Nokomis was scheduled to face Old Town High School, who Foxcroft played to a scoreless tie in the season opener for the Ponies’ only game not ending with the team ahead in the goal count. Since the early September matchup Foxcroft had won 15 consecutive games.
    This year marked the Ponies’ second straight berth in a regional final as the team advanced to the B East game in 2012, falling to Belfast Area High School by a score of 2-1. 

Observer photos/Stuart Hedstrom

    PONY VS. MUSTANG — Following a stoppage in play in the first half, Foxcroft senior Mackenzie Coiley and Mount View junior Kersey Boulay get ready to face off for the ball. Also ready for the play is, from left, Mustang senior Allyson Clary, Pony sophomore Avery Carroll and junior Jennifer Boyer.

    Foxcroft, before two years playing up a class, was in the Class C East title game in 2010, giving the seniors three regional final berths in their four years of high school. The Ponies also reached the Class C East championship in 2009 and 2007 to start a steak of five in seven seasons finishing as one of the top two teams in Eastern Maine.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

    CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON! — The Foxcroft field hockey team piles onto the field following junior Abigail Simmons’ game-winner in double overtime vs. Mount View on Oct. 26. The semifinal victory moved advanced the Ponies to an Eastern Maine championship for the second season in a row and fifth time in the last seven years.