NEWPORT — Mascoma High junior Tori Petty delivered an offensive masterclass — headlined by a hat trick — to lead the Royals to a 4-2 victory over Newport High.
“When Tori keeps the ball on her stick, she has amazing stick skills. She is really good around the net; she can find the net really quickly,” Mascoma head coach Danielle Pushee said.
Petty’s performance came at Veterans Field in Newport Tuesday afternoon in an NHIAA Division III field hockey matchup.
“I think today really helped boost her confidence… I’m really proud of her,” Pushee said.
In addition to her three-goal performance, Petty notched an assist on the Royals’ (4-6) other goal, which came from sophomore Paetyn Clement. Sophomore Sophia Smith and Clement each had an assist.
“I think that sometimes when you have the ball, you just go with it, and I knew that my team was counting on me today,” Petty said.
With her team picking up the win, it’s not surprising Pushee was happy with the way her squad played. On the other hand, while the Tigers’ (4-5) head coach, Paige Jette, said the loss was disappointing, she was proud of her players.
Newport senior Hailey Hill scored once and added an assist, while senior Hanna Fellows also scored in the loss.
“We’ve come leaps and bounds from last season,” said Jette, who coached a winless season last year. “I’m proud that we’re making steps… I’m forever proud of this team for the growth that they’ve shown over this whole season.”
The Royals struck first on Petty’s first goal almost seven minutes into a battle with some history behind it — Pushee coached Jette, a 2021 graduate of Mascoma High, in field hockey.
“It’s nice to see that she’s stepping up and coaching now — I think that she’s an amazing coach— she can do great things for the Newport program,” Pushee said.
“It was a lot of fun playing for her; even today, it’s a little friendly fire, and I always enjoy playing Mascoma, whether it’s in field hockey or watching them,” Jette said.
Petty added to the lead around five minutes later, maneuvering around defenders and finishing the ball in the back of the net to make it 2-0.
The Tigers didn’t go away easily, as Hill got Newport on the board with a rifle of a shot from the top of the shooting circle to cut the deficit to 2-1 with under two minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The scoring slowed after a lively first quarter, with the Royals getting the only other goal in the first half, set up by Smith and finished by Petty to lock in the hat trick.
Going into the break leading 3-1, Mascoma continued to apply pressure in the third quarter, going up 4-1 near the frame’s midway point on Clement’s goal, in which she cleaned up a loose ball on a shot from Petty.
The final goal of the contest came from the Tigers in the fourth quarter with a little under three minutes remaining, when Hill sent a laser of a pass from the top of the circle to Fellows, who was waiting on the left post and put it home.
Ultimately, it was too little, too late for the Tigers as Mascoma locked up the 4-2 victory.
“I think the girls played a really good game today,” Pushee said. “We’ve been struggling a little bit with our communication with each other, but I think today it paid off that we were communicating, making good passes, and we were covering for each other.”
“All the things that we’ve been working on all season kind of all came together today, which was great to see,” she added.
The Royals visit Mascenic Wednesday at 4 p.m., while the Tigers host Stevens on Thursday at 4 p.m.
