EAGLE NORA HURLBURT heads down the field with the ball with Tiger midfielder Maya Breckenridge in pursuit during Monday’s field hockey game at Mount Abraham.
Independent photo/John S. McCright

BRISTOL — In a Monday matchup at Mount Abraham Union High School between two Division II field hockey teams that have played hard this fall, but could use more positive results, the host Eagles used a fast start and held off a second-half Middlebury push to claim a 3-1 victory.

The Eagles improved to 2-9, with both wins coming over MUHS by the same score. They used goals early in both the first and second quarters to take a 2-0 lead, and added a third goal midway in the second quarter. In the first half, Mount Abe put 11 shots on goal to just three for the 1-8-1Tigers, whose second-half surge paid off with a fourth-quarter goal.

Eagle Coach Jen Myers was pleased her team came out strong, which she attributed in part to the Eagles maintaining an upbeat approach this season despite the losses that have mounted, as they also have for Tigers. The two schools field the only D-II teams in the powerful D-I Metro Conference.

“They did a great job coming out. We’ve been working really hard on being positive and encouraging each other,” Myers said. “They’ve done a great job lifting each other up and maintaining that positivity. And today it was capitalizing at the net, and it was fun to watch that.”

MUHS Coach Makayla Broughton credited the Eagles for their solid effort.

“They came out strong,” she said.

To be fair, her Tigers were dealing not only with lingering injuries, but also the grief her team felt after the stunning death over the weekend of well-liked and highly respected MUHS math teacher and hockey coach Derek Bartlett. A couple team members chose not to play, and a couple others sat out with ailments, and the Tigers had only one player on the bench on Monday. Broughton was pleased her team dug in to play better as the game progressed.

“Yes, we wanted to win, but our goal was to support each other and to show up,” she said. “And the fact that happened over the weekend, and the girls showed up today, with one sub, is a testament to our resilience. And then to get a goal on the board is phenomenal. And they’re just sticking together, which is really great.”

In Monday’s game there was no denying Mount Abe in the first half. At the opening whistle, the Eagles moved quickly down the right side, and freshman middie Eleanor Hurlburt sent the ball into the box. The ball bounced to the far side to open senior Lily Case. She wristed it low inside the left post, and the Eagles led with just 26 seconds gone.

The Tigers tried to counter quickly, with junior Kenyon Connors setting up freshman forward Elle MacIntyre at the right post in the second minute, but Eagle senior goalie Isabelle Allenson, filling in for the absent Rory Hendee, was there to block MacIntyre’s bid. Connors and classmate Quinn Doria made threatening runs in the period, but the Eagle defense of senior Bella Hartwell, sophomore Lux Tierney and senior Addy Nezin held up.

The Eagles launched eight more shots in the opening quarter, five on target, but MUHS sophomore goalie Heaven Ross blocked them all. On the first of five Mount Abe penalty corners in the period, Ross kicked away a bid by Eagle senior forward Paden Lathrop at the right post, and shortly afterward Ross kicked away a serve into the box before Eagle senior Lexy Perlee could reach it. Later in the period, Ross denied back-to-back bids by Lathrop and junior June Yates-Rusch on the rebound.

MUHS FRESHMAN LENA Giuliani and Eagle Nora Hurlburt go after the ball together during Monday’s field hockey game at Mount Abraham.
Independent photo/John S. McCright

The Eagles made it 3-0 on two second-quarter penalty corners, both on plays following Ross saves on Lathrop shots. The first came in the second minute. Lathrop fired from about 10 or 12 feet out, and Ross made the pad save. The ball bounced back to Lathrop, who spotted Hurlburt open at the right post and rolled a backhand pass to her for the tap-in.

At 6:49 came the goal that made it 3-0; Lathrop took the corner insert and ripped a long shot on goal. Ross made the stop, but the ball rebounded to Yates-Rusch, who tucked it home.

In between, Doria challenged Allenson. Doria beat three Eagles toward the left post and fired a waist-high reverse-stick bid on goal, but the Eagle goalie was well positioned to stop what was the only Tiger shot on goal in the quarter.

Play evened in the second half, with both goalies making three more saves and the Tigers earning a 3-2 edge in penalty corners to cut Mount Abe’s final advantage in that department to 10-3.

Broughton shifted tactics in the second half, in part because she had no substitutes at midfield, and in part she wanted to load up the offense, not only to score, but also to more effectively bottle up the Eagles in their own end. She rotated midfielders Lilah Cook Yoder and Maya Breckenridge through the front line along with Doria and Connors to do so.

The changes put the Tigers on their front foot more often, and they started to get to the ball first and win more 50-50 battles.

MUHS JUNIOR TRI-CAPTAIN Kenyon Connors makes a move on an Eagle defender during Monday’s field hockey game at Mount Abraham. Connors scored the Tiger goal in the 3-1 Eagle win.
Independent photo/John S. McCright

“We had to be flexible because we could only sub one person on and off,” Broughton said. “And it was pretty cool, too, sealing up that press … It was really cool to see.”

The additional threats also seemed to give Doria more room to operate, and she began to make more inroads into the Eagle circle. Early in the third period, Doria forced Allenson to make back-to-back stops, one on her own rebound. Midway through the period, Cook-Yoder drilled a ball into the box from the right side, and it ricocheted to Doria, but Allenson again denied the Tiger.

The Eagles’ most dangerous sequence in the second half came in the final minute of the third period after Hurlburt sent a ball to the goalmouth. A scramble followed, and the Tigers made two point-blank saves, one by a defender on the left side and one by Ross on the right side, before the Tigers cleared the ball away. Credit goes to the Tiger backline of senior Meredith Cameron, junior Hex Bingham and freshman Sophie Simpson for hanging in on that play and the rest of the game.

The Tigers finally broke through at 8:08 of the fourth quarter. Doria picked up a loose ball in the box that had been sent in from the right and slid it to her left to Connors, who rolled it inside the left post to make it 3-1. But the Eagles tightened up after that, and soon they were celebrating.

Ross finished with 11 saves, and Allenson with six. Both also kicked balls out of harm’s way several times.

Broughton was happy with the effort.

“We played with what we had. We had fun. We learned a lot, and we supported each other,” Broughton said.

Both teams will be moving to the Capital Division next season and will play more competitive games like Monday’s. Broughton said overall the Tigers have kept their morale and managed their emotions despite the multi-goal losses this fall.

“We’ve definitely seen a lot of great competition … against teams that have been in a completely different ballpark,” she said. “It’s been a great job of keeping composure … even when faced with adversity.”

Myers said, like the Tigers, the focus has been on improvement rather than wins this fall. She added the Eagles have enjoyed the season and each other.

“They’re a great group of kids to be around, and every time I get here I’m smiling and laughing,” Myers said. “And they very much enjoy being around each other. It helps when we can have that positive morale off the field and on the field.”

And Myers said the Eagles’ focus on improvement has paid off, and it showed in their performance on Monday when they faced a Division II team.

“It does translate, and today it translated for us really well,” she said. “It’s fun to watch them do some of the same things we do against other opponents and be successful.”

As for next year?

“I think it will be good for us just to see some different teams,” Myers said. “We’ll match up with some new opponents, and hopefully match up really nicely so we have some nice competitive games.”