A laser-like pass by attacker Alexis Davison set up the game winning goal May 24 as Boothbay defeated Erskine Academy, 8-7,  in a key Class B North lacrosse match. Davison picked up a loose ball and fired a pass to midfielder Helen Hamblett who scored giving Boothbay an 8-6 lead with four minutes and 53 seconds remaining.

Erskine scored 23 seconds later making the final four minutes suspenseful, but Boothbay hung on for the victory. Despite Davison’s quick acting, the game winning play almost didn’t happen. Erskine goalie Malone Weaver came out of the cage’s crease to defend a potential shot. Davison wasn’t sure her pass would be fast enough to catch the Eagle defense out of position.

“It happened real quick. I picked it up and saw her wide open so I thought, here you go Helen,” Davison said.

Boothbay entered the contest in fifth place of the Class B North Heal point standings and Erskine was fourth. Boothbay is now 8-2 and in fifth place. Erskine Academy falls to 5-5 and into sixth place. Boothbay has combined an opportunistic offense with a stingy defense in winning six consecutive games.

Boothbay defender Nicole Clark believes her team has become a more mature group since losing to Erskine, 6-4, on April 23 in the season’s first contest.

“We just weren’t ready to play last time,” Clark said. “Our defense is doing a better job communicating and adjusting to what the opponent is doing. We’re getting back into our defensive positions quicker, and when attackers cut to draw us out of position we’re doing better reacting to it.’

Erskine jumped out to an early lead scoring the game’s first goal two and half minutes into the game. Davison scored three minutes later tying the score. Hamblett followed with her first of  three goals giving the Seahawks the lead.

Midfielder Lincoln Hamblett scored a minute later giving Boothbay a 3-1. And Seahawk attacker Jackie McLoon scored the last Boothbay first half goal with six minutes and 20 seconds remaining.

At halftime, Boothbay led 4-3. Three early second half goals scored in five minutes and 17 seconds put the Seahawks ahead by four. A Jackie McLoon goal was sandwiched between two from Helen Hamblett.

It didn’t take long for Erskine to respond. The Eagles scored a trio of goals in the next eight minutes and 22 seconds cutting the deficit to one. Boothbay handled Erskine’s slew of goals by keeping their emotions in check.

“We were nervous because there was a lot of Heal points at stake. We really wanted this game,” said Boothbay defender Lexi Welch. “We kept it together and was able to pull it out,” Welch said.

Erskine is only of two teams to beat Boothbay this year. The Seahawks were riding a five game winning streak entering the contest, but Jordan believed the Eagles would test her team’s ability. Boothbay demonstrated the same poise and confident in their victory, it lacked in their opening game loss.

Erskine won the first encounter despite not having several players available.

“We didn’t have a good showing last time,” said Boothbay coach Donna Jordan. “We were nervous and just didn’t play well. We had the talent to win and we also changed our strategy which made the difference.”

Boothbay started to jell as a unit during its 15-6 May 20 victory over Camden. Boothbay had only one game that week which provided them an opportunity to improve catching the ball on the run and disrupting the opposition in the midfield.

According to Jordan, the team’s defense has shown the most improvement and at times the offense struggles running the system she wants.

“There is no doubt were a much better team than we were in April,” Jordan said. “Our overall play is faster and better. And they continue to improve as the season progresses.”

Boothbay is looking to close out the season with road victories over Winslow on Saturday and Lincoln Academy on June 1. The Seahawks’ goal is to finish in sixth place or better to avoid playing a tournament preliminary game.