An early Monadnock goal was the wake-up call the Mascenic field hockey team needed to get going in Tuesday's 3-1 home-opener win over the Huskies. Going forward, Viking coach Selena Shaw said she wants her girls to be in control of their own intensity level, rather than react to their opponents.

"I want us to start off a little bit harder to begin with and set the pace all the way through," Shaw said after Tuesday's win.

The winless Huskies scored their first goal of the season at the 13:29 mark of the second period, sending a high-arcing lift shot up over Mascenic senior keeper Emma Cargill's leap and into the net. Monadnock's celebrations were short-lived, however, as the Vikings answered with two goals in the next two minutes to take the lead for good.

"We want to control and come out and score first, but when that doesn't happen, I was pleased with our response with an immediate goal,” Shaw said.

Mascenic kept the pressure in the Monadnock defensive end for much of the game, allowing junior defender Lorelei Shippee and senior Ella Pearson to press up and keep the pressure on. It was Shippee who struck for the equalizer.

"Lorelei's been huge for us this year," Shaw said. "She's steady Eddie back there. She's going to outwork anybody you put her against, and that's been super-exciting to watch."

Just over a minute later, freshman Ava Haavisto scored her first career goal to give Mascenic a 2-1 lead they'd never surrender. The Vikings added one more score in the fourth period, when sophomore Brielle Krook set up senior Lexi Caron for an insurance tally.

Once Mascenic was locked in, they looked like a solid team, but getting there isn't as easy as it has been in years past after the Vikings graduated seven players from last season’s semifinal team.

"We do have a lot of upperclassmen, but we're kind of a fresh look this year,” Shaw said. “We had a big turnover...so we're just kind of still figuring things out and working on our intensity."

The Vikings get a good boost offensively from junior Faith Wooster, who kept the heat on Monadnock throughout Tuesday's game, and junior Ella Keating, the offensive centerpoint.

"[Keating's] just dynamite up front," Shaw said. "She's so fast, she works hard and she knows how to put the ball in the net."

The Vikings also have a talented crop of new players coming in this season. Addie Gregg joins the team for the first time as a junior, and Kiana Farrey might be the fastest player on the roster as a freshman.

Shaw, last year's Division III co-Coach of the Year, still has some work to do to get her girls as focused and intense as they need to be. After a lapse in defensive intensity in Tuesday's third quarter, she called a quick timeout and gave the team stern instructions regarding just that. 

"On defense, you can never rest," Shaw said. "We're just getting them to realize the importance of that. That's why I thought it was important to call that time ou. Not only could it change the game if we didn't do that, but I think it's a good teaching moment for them."

With the talent and returning experience on the roster, the Vikings should be a playoff team; what their ceiling is beyond that remains to be seen.

"We're working through just learning each other still," Shaw said. "Because it's early in the season, I don't really know -- would I say that we're an above-.500 team at this point? No. But I hope we are by the end of the season. We've got to learn how to work harder than the competition."