AUBURN — Messalonskee field hockey coach Katie Gorham looked at the scoreboard clock, weighed her team’s tenuous lead, turned to the players and tried to put the 14 minutes into perspective.

“That’s half an episode of Seinfeld,” Gorham said.

Hard to say whether the Eagles laughed knowingly or nervously, since they’re only old enough to know the 1990s comedy in reruns.

The message sank in, however. In the time it would have taken Kramer to storm into a room and somebody to cue the laugh track, Messalonskee made its rededication to hustle pay off.

Mara Balboni scored a goal less than 30 seconds after that huddle. Lynnae Luettich followed suit four minutes later to polish off Messalonskee’s 4-1 KVAC victory over Edward Little at Sherwood Heights.

The Eagles’ Mikayla Turner broke a halftime deadlock with a quick goal, but it triggered a 10-minute span in which every legitimate scoring bid originated off an EL stick.

“We kind of just had a chat about not getting comfortable. We have a very bad habit of getting too comfortable and almost scared when we’re up,” Gorham said. “We’re OK when we’re losing or we’re tied, but as soon as we’re winning they get scared. So yeah, (it was) a little bit of a motivational speech.”

Messalonskee (3-1-1) is one of the usual suspects in Eastern Class A. This year, the Eagles have been the only team to score against 10-time defending regional champion Skowhegan, in a 3-2 loss.

But goals haven’t come easily for anyone against EL (2-2-1).

The Red Eddies beat Oxford Hills and Lewiston without anyone rattling the cage, then played a scoreless tie Monday against Mt. Ararat.

“We hadn’t really been pressured,” EL coach Greg Perkins said. “We had four shots against us yesterday. Lewiston I think had four. Oxford Hills had two or three. We haven’t seen that kind of an onslaught. We need that. We need to learn how to play defense. If you can’t play defense, you can’t win.”

The Eagles snapped that shutout streak when Kristy Bernatchez made quick work of a possession change in the EL defensive zone, locating a laser with 8:59 remaining in the first half.

Courtney Pelletier answered for EL at 5:34, gaining control of a scramble after Hannah Johnston’s initial shot.

“They are hustlers. They play with such heart,” Gorham said of EL. “I’m envious of how much. They don’t give up, and that says a lot about a team. It makes them very dangerous.”

Messalonskee enjoyed a 6-2 edge in shots on goal prior to intermission.

That’s deceiving. The Eddies had several promising bids in the neighborhood of Messalonskee goalkeeper Alexandra Cole trickle just wide on both sides of the cage.

“We played them tough in the first half. Then they stopped making mistakes,” Perkins said. “This is one you just hope to steal, and we didn’t. But there’s a lot left.”

Cole also protected a 2-1 lead by stopping Tori Couture’s penalty stroke with her blocker, waist high, eight minutes into the second half.

Her EL counterpart, Amanda Williams, made 10 saves.

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