SACO — The victory bell rang for Thornton Academy as they beat undefeated Scarborough 1-0 Thursday. It’s the first time ever that the Golden Trojan girls’ soccer team have beaten Scarborough.
The winning goal came with 11:50 left in the game when Katelyn Pierson passed the ball deep into Scarborough’s territory where a defender tried to clear it. The ball fell to Amanda Arnold, who kicked it from 25 yards out just over the outstretched reach of goalie Sydney Martin in the top right corner of the goal.
“I saw the opportunity and took it,” said Arnold. “Scarborough’s defense is good, so I took the shots when it was available.”
The game wasn’t handed to, Thornton, though as they needed to survive a desperate barrage of attacks from the Red Storm to finish off the game.
With 10 minutes left, Scarborough put up a variety of shots that could have tied the game. Thornton survived a corner with 3:30 left that was cleared out of the zone by a defender. Hadlee Yescott had a chance at a direct kick from 20 yards that flew high of the goal. Lastly, with 1:30 left, Katherine Kirk’s shot hit square off the post and again a Thornton defender cleared it out of the box.
Team defense was crucial in the game, as most shots on goal were from tough angles due to defenders closing in on the attackers. Thornton’s defense squashed several opportunities from the Red Storm, who outshot Thornton in the first half.
“We played composed. We bent a little bit, but we didn’t break. We got rid of the ball when we were in trouble and made good decisions back there. Scarborough is an awesome team and to shut them out is incredible,” said Thornton coach Chris Kohl.
Emily Richard had five saves in the first half and 6 total for the game to complete her fifth shutout of the season. Richard had several key plays that ended the attack of Scarborough and swung momentum back in Thornton’s favor. A corner kick by Scarborough was shot perfectly into the pack of players, but Richard nixed the opportunity by catching the ball at its peak.
Most notably, though, Richard watched Scarborough’s final shot nail off the right post.
“(I) was really lucky it shot off the post,” said Richard. “(The post) is my best friend sometimes. But my defense was calm and ready for anything that could happen.”
Coming into the game, both teams were undefeated and Scarborough was number one in the Western Maine Class A Heel Point standings. Before the game Scarborough outscore their opponents 23”“1. Thornton had a goal differential on their opponents of 47-5 in eight games.
But none of the statistics mattered to the Thornton team and coach Kohl.
“We knew coming into this game we weren’t going to score eight goals. We came into this game knowing it was going to be a tight game,” said Kohl.
Thornton Academy will continue to be tested as they travel to Cheverus (7-2) next Wednesday.
“Playing Scarborough is something I look forward to all year,” said Richard. “For me it’s the best game. I really get to use my skills and work with my team to see how it comes out.”
—Contact Nate Fowler at 282-1535, Ext. 323.
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