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CAPE ELIZABETH – Top-seeded Windham had to go to penalty kicks for a second consecutive game Friday night.
This time the Eagles didn’t survive.
Fourth-seeded Cape Elizabeth converted six consecutive penalty shots to beat previously undefeated Windham in a Western Class A girls’ soccer semifinal after the teams played to a 1-1 tie through regulation and overtime.
The Capers (15-1-1) advanced to the regional final against the winner of the Scarborough-Thornton Academy semifinal Saturday.
“We got lucky last game and our luck ran out,” Windham Coach Deb Lebel said.
On Tuesday night, the Eagles beat ninth-seeded Cheverus in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks, also after a 1-1 tie.
Cape Elizabeth goalkeeper Mary Perkins stopped only one penalty kick, but four of Windham’s 10 shooters shot off the mark.
“I don’t blame any of them for missing,” Lebel said. “It’s high pressure, high stakes.”
Maddy Riker, Kate Breed and Talley Perkins converted consecutive penalty kicks for the Capers to keep the game tied through one set of five penalty kicks. Kathryn Briggs, Sarah O’Connor and Elise Flathers made their kicks to start the second round.
“Once you go out there, there is so much pressure on you,” said Kathryn Clark, who led the Capers in scoring in the regular season but put a shot off the left post at the start of the first round of PKs.
“It was so hard, but thankfully my teammates came through and finished.”
Jenna Soucy, Jordan Sargent, Lauren Shoemaker, Emily Gilman and Katie Herzig converted penalty kicks for the Eagles (14-1-1).
Soucy opened the scoring after 9:45 by putting in a blast from 25 yards for her 10th goal of the season.
Alyssa Nielsen set up the score when she intercepted a clearing pass inside the midfield stripe on the right side and curled a long pass to Soucy on the opposite wing.
Breed, a freshman forward, tied it 13 minutes into the second half when she got around a defender on the left side and put in a shot from 15 yards for her fourth goal of the season.
For the game, the Eagles held a 32-11 edge in shots.
“We didn’t finish tonight,” Lebel said.
“If we had finished we would have won. We just didn’t put the ball in the back of the net. We had a lot of good opportunities; we just didn’t capitalize on them.”
Only two of Windham’s shots originated from inside the penalty area, and Perkins had to make just nine saves to keep the Eagles from scoring another goal.
“They had a lot of 30-yard shots, but Mary did well in goal and I think the better chances fell to us,” Cape Elizabeth Coach Luke Krawczyk said.
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com
Twitter: PaulBetitPPH
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