STANDISH – The Sanford girls’ soccer team played a strong possession game in the first half Wednesday to record its second consecutive victory.

Marissa Duncan headed in a ball from 10 yards following a corner kick 33 minutes into the game and the Redskins held on to beat Bonny Eagle, 1-0.

“Our first game, we did a lot of booting from the defense, passing the midfield and going right up to the offense and tried to run on to it,” Sanford Coach Kendra Brown said. “The past two games we’ve been going through the midfield a lot more and trying to win the ball there, possess and attack.”

The Redskins (2-1) held a 13-1 edge in shots in the first half.

“We just have to work on finishing,” Brown said. “A lot of our shots were going way over the goal. We’ve got to lean over and hit it harder to the back of the net.”

The only goal followed Sanford’s seventh corner kick. Nicole Bordeau volleyed the ball toward the front of the net following Katelyn Fink’s corner kick. It skipped off Duncan’s head inside the far post beyond goalie Marissa Butler’s reach.

After Sanford dominated the first half, the Scots (1-2-1) came on in the second.

“(Our players) got a reality check in the first half, and they totally started to play Bonny Eagle soccer in the second half,” said Coach Ed Taylor, in his first season after coaching premier teams at the club level for 10 years. “There’s a lot of good teams in the league this year. It’s anybody’s year, and you really have to come out and give 100 percent all the time. In the second half, we stepped it up.”

But Sanford goalie Kellie Tovey, who handled the ball only a few times in the first half, was ready.

“In the first half my head really wasn’t into it,” she said. “But when they came out hard in the second half, after the first save I was ready.”

Tovey made seven of her eight saves in the second half for her first shutout of the season.

Six minutes into the second half, Tovey came out 10 yards to thwart a breakaway by Katelyn Boyer, Bonny Eagle’s leading scorer the past two years.

“I was going for the slide tackle to get the ball,” Tovey said. “As I was diving it caught on my foot and I just kicked it out.”

“She’s a young goalie but she’s very aggressive,” Brown said. “She doesn’t have a lot of training but she has natural ability. She’s made some phenomenal saves for us.”

Taylor was impressed with his team’s effort in the second half.

“The fact that they were in the right place at the right time making the right touches is important,” he said. “If they’re not there, we’d have big concerns.”

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com