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WATERVILLE — Jayme Saulter scored with four minutes remaining to lift Waterville to a 1-0 victory over Mt. Ararat in an Eastern Maine Class A girls’ soccer quarterfinal Tuesday.

The third-ranked Panthers (12-2-1) will face No. 2 Bangor in the regional semifinals. No. 6 Mt. Ararat finished 9-4-2.

Mt. Ararat’s game plan was to play between six and eight players behind the ball on the defensive end. The Eagles’ main focus was Waterville’s high-scoring forward Jordan Pellerin, who was held to two shots.

“We knew if we could shut down Jordan Pellerin – she’s a phenomenal player – and get as many bodies back there to congest it a little bit and make it a little more confusing, we could be in the game,” Mt. Ararat Coach Sam Chard said. “I thought we contained her pretty well and played a very good game.”

Waterville managed just 10 shots, five in each half, while the Eagles were limited to three shots.

“We’ve been working on defense since our last game; we knew we had to win every air ball and they are tough with through balls,” Waterville sweeper Katy Massey said.

“We pretty much stepped up for the playoffs; they had some fast forwards so we had to play a little more back, too.”

Massey was a key factor for Waterville, consistently stepping to the ball and winning passes from Mt. Ararat forwards and midfielders destined for dangerous areas behind the defense.

The Eagles’ defense of Colby Gail, Mariah Cropley, Sara Berry and Chelsea Crawford was impressive in maintaining its composure under constant pressure, as was Waterville’s back four of Massey, Emily Karter, Lauren Massey and Hannah Jabbar.

For 76 minutes, the teams battled it out between the penalty areas looking for a small advantage. Waterville got one when Abbie Webster carried the ball to the Eagles’ 6, then fired a left-footed shot from 10 yards that grazed the right goal post past goalie Shauna Williams into the middle of the goal area.

Saulter patiently waited for the ball to move in her direction before making a move and scoring the game’s only goal with four minutes left.

“I never really thought I would score in the playoffs,” said Saulter, who has two goals for Waterville this season. “It went through three or four people, hit the post, bounced two feet away and I just tapped it in.”

Waterville keeper Kylee Gardiner made one save and Williams had four.