Fort Fairfield now 7-0 for the season
Last Tuesday night, he saw firsthand the one which he feels stands out among the rest.
The Fort Fairfield Tigers paid a visit and put on a clinic featuring brilliant passing, lethal shot making and relentless defense, and it added up to a 4-0 victory over the host Eagles.
FF is the defending Class D state champions and Hamilton feels this year’s team may have improved.
“I think they are better,” Hamilton said. “They are more aggressive and that extra year of experience and having gone through last year’s playoff run really shows.
“They are playing like champions right now.”
The Tigers, now 7-0, unleashed their offense early and often. They hammered 24 first-half shots (and 37 for the game) on Eagles’ goalkeeper Mathew Pelkey, who was stellar in making 17 saves, including several that called for diving efforts. He helped hold Fort Fairfield to one goal (an unassisted tally off the foot of sophomore Jonah Daigle with 24:51 left in the half) over the first 37 minutes.
“He was incredible tonight,” said Hamilton, whose team fell to 2-2. “Many of their shots were blasts and he made some excellent saves.”
Fort Fairfield got its second goal with 2:33 left before intermission. Talented senior midfielder Ryan Player dribbled right from the top of the 18 and ripped a shot past Pelkey to the lower left corner.
The Eagles’ Tommy Pinette almost cut the lead in half 6-1/2 minutes into the second half with a 30-yard rocket that forced FF goalie Malcolm Langner to leap and skim the ball with his hands. It went off the crossbar before it was cleared away.
Landon Kinney added a third goal less than two minutes later, off a Player assist, while Player closed out the scoring with another missile following a nifty pullback move with 12:48 left.
Fort Fairfield has now outscored its opponents 45-2 and coach John Ala likes what he sees at the season’s midway point.
“We communicated very well on the field, controlled the air and didn’t allow any counter attacks against a team that has some very good skill,” Ala said. “I liked our intensity out there and I like the way it’s going, but we still have a lot of areas to focus on.”
