By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

FRYEBURG — With the heat starting to take its toll and time running out, Raider Coach Dede Frost decided to take a gamble.

She changed up her line-up.

“I felt like both teams were tired. We needed fresh legs, and at that point, I felt like having fresh legs was more important than having starters in place,” the coach said. “We were tired. We were letting them get close calls. We were having shots miss the net. There was just some fatigue going on there.”

Some freshmen entered the game to relieve some of the seniors.

Juniors Ella Dean and Sharis Santos moved from link to the front line — Ella going to center and Sharis to wing.

Everything clicked.

With 7:47 left in regulation, the Raiders broke through against rival Lake Region last Wednesday at Atwood Stadium as Dean sent the ball across the goal area and Santos swept it into the net as Fryeburg captured a 1-0 field hockey victory.

“That was pretty, it wasn’t a fluke. There are a lot of games decided on goals where the ball bounces off someone’s stick. This one was played perfectly,” Coach Frost said.

Both teams had goals waved off earlier in the contest.

“I thought one of my freshmen had hit it, but at first glance, it looked like the ball went under her stick,” said Coach Frost of the hard struck shot that came from outside of the scoring area, and the referee ruled it had not been deflected by another Raider inside the circle.

The Lakers had a couple of scoring chances in the fourth period as sophomore Nica Walter bounced a couple of drives off Raider goalie senior goalie Rayna Wales (4 saves), who stood her ground and eventually kicked the ball away.

FA junior Sophia Brown skidded a shot past Laker netminder Nicole Watson (8 saves), who had moved out of the crease to cut down the angle, but sophomore defender Araceli Chavez was in the right spot to deflect the ball away just before it reached the goal line.

For a majority of the contest, the ball ping-ponged in the midfield areas as both teams showed a consistent ability to knock down passes and send the ball the other way. LR was led by Abigail Travis, Ella Gibbons and Mya King, while FA stoppers were Hazel Lewis, Elise Dunn and Addison Valente.

As time ticked off the clock, the Raiders pinned the Lakers in their own defensive end, preventing any late scoring chances.

“It’s something we’ve worked on, knowing how much time is left on the clock. We stayed aggressive, stole the ball and kept it in their circle. It makes a difference because you play differently when you’re ahead with only a few minutes left in the game,” Coach Frost said. “I did have to tell a few kids to get back a little bit because the last thing you want to happen is someone to clear the ball out, and the other team has numbers going the other way with a chance to score.”

One obvious Raider advantage was overall player depth. With the Lakers having just two subs, first-year Coach Lucy Fowler had few options to give her front line attackers — Mia Letarte, Audrey Philbrook and Nica Walter — some rest, especially as the sun heated the turf stadium past the 80-degree mark.

On the other sideline, the Raiders have 50 players out for the field hockey program — both a luxury and a slight curse.

“We had high 40s when I first started coaching varsity (some 30 years ago), but not in the recent past. While it’s really nice to have so many girls interested in field hockey, our struggle is going to be making sure we get kids to play and figure out how to juggle teaching the game while also getting our team ready to play at the varsity level. It’s going to be challenging, especially since we have just two coaches,” Coach Frost pointed out. “When you practice with 16 to 17 girls, they’re all getting the same skills. You’re pushing them all at the same level. When you have beginners and senior experienced players all on the same field at practice every day, obviously there are some major challenges. You’re trying to balance, teaching the kids that have never played before and trying to push experienced players to reach the next level.”

Frost is excited about the future of Raider field hockey with 17 freshmen on the roster. The challenge, she says, is finding games since many schools do not have freshman teams, while others — like Lake Region — are unable to field JV squads.

“It’s tough to practice five days a week and not get a chance to play a game. We’re going to have to be creative,” she said. “It’s going to be a juggling act, but it’s a good problem to have.”

On the plus side, the Raiders start the season 3-0. The Lakers are 0-3 after a 4-0 loss Tuesday against Freeport.

“We learned a lot today,” Coach Frost said. “We have a lot to work on still, but we did some things right — enough to pull this one out.”