HODGDON, Maine — A late-game scoring barrage catapulted the Katahdin girls soccer team past Hodgdon Friday afternoon as the Cougars clawed out a 4-1 victory.
Facing each other for the third time on the season, the No. 10 Cougars (6-8-1 overall) scored three times in the game’s final 10 minutes to secure the upset win over No. 7 Hodgdon in a Class D North preliminary playoff.
Erin Lake scored three goals to lead Katahdin. Emma McNally also had a solo goal. Emily Myers and Danielle Libby each had one assist.
Emma Drew scored the lone goal for Hodgdon, which finishes its season with a 7-7-1 record.
“The second half was the story of this game,” Katahdin coach Shaun McAvoy said. “We wanted the wind in the second half and it certainly helped.”
The Cougars scored three of their four goals in the second half and finished the game with a 16-9 advantage in shots and 8-3 edge in corner kicks.
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- Hodgdon’s Sabra Scott uses her body to shield the ball in Friday’s Class D North preliminary game. Looking on is Katahdin’s Jordan Gardiner. (Joseph Cyr)
Katahdin goalie Natalie Rickards made six saves on nine shots, while Hodgdon’s Autumn Ganzel had four saves on 16 shots.
McAvoy lauded the effort of freshman fullback Danielle Libby to help anchor the team on defense and added that the Cougars are an extremely young squad. Katahdin’s roster includes three freshmen and four eighth-graders (three of whom start).
“This will certainly help us down the road, but right now we are a little bit inexperienced on our front line,” he said. “It’s coming, and they are playing really hard.”
McAvoy said despite the win, his squad still had much to work on if they hope to have success against No. 2 Ashland (13-1) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
“We have to do a better job on our trapping,” he said. “The ball was bouncing around more than normal today, so we have to be able to adjust.”
Hodgdon and Katahdin met twice during the regular season with the two teams battling to a 2-2 tie Sept. 11 at Hodgdon, and Katahdin picking up a 3-0 victory Sept. 27 in Stacyville. Hodgdon played Friday’s game with just two players on its bench, which meant few breaks for the Hawks on the field.
“The girls really fought hard for the whole game and that’s all I can ask of them,” first-year coach Amanda Stubbs said. “We tried to keep momentum going, but we just got a bit unlucky. You can’t take away the effort though. I am really proud of them.”
