Red Stormer Lily Nygren busted up a lengthy stalemate with visiting Westbrook on Monday night, Sept. 28, scoring two late-game goals to lift Scarborough past the Blazes, 3-1.

“They’re definitely a talented team,” Storm head coach Kerry Mariello said of Westbrook. “Every year they bring a lot of aggressiveness and just some pure skill players. We knew coming into this it was going to be a challenge.”

“We gave ’em a game,” said Westbrook head coach Beth Murphy. “The kids finally came to play a little bit. They were going to the ball a little bit more.”

Each team notched a first-half goal – Nygren also had Scarborough’s first point, and Delaney Derrig added her team’s tally – to keep things even through the break and deep into the second half. Finally, with 12:05 remaining, Nygren managed to poke another ball past Westbrook cagemaster Kimmy Goddard and give the Storm the advantage.

Nygren displays a knack for knowing where to be and when. “She just is there,” said Mariello. “She’s clutch. She’s Queen Clutch.”

Mariello suspects her team simply outlasted the Blazes this time around. “[It was just] the matter of probably wearing the other team out,” she said. “Usually once you score that second goal, it kind of diminishes the fight in the other team. We get the adrenaline rush, they get the let-down.”

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“It was just a couple of defensive breakdowns, and Scarborough’s going to capitalize on that.” Murphy said of her squad’s falling behind the Storm. “We’re trying to pull all these different formations against these big schools.”

Nygren notched her third eight minutes later. With time winding down, the Blazes needed to pressure heavily – and they did, owning the final three minutes of the action and generating multiple solid chances. But the Storm stood strong, and walked away with the W.

Murphy was happy about her girls’ late game fire. “They’re a good group; they just can’t get those balls to go in. They’re still a little bit inexperienced. I’ve got a couple senior leaders, but it’s a new young group in there, playing.

“This is going to be a really good group,” Murphy said, looking into the future, excited and perhaps already proud. “There’s some very good talent in those younger grades. Once they start to have the confidence to beat these teams, that’s going to turn their minds to the right mindset.”

A win’s a win, as they say, and no team turns one down. But naturally, when the sum total of a squad’s scoring in a game comes off the stick of one player, some thought of keeping the attack diverse can arise in a coach’s mind. Mariello is unconcerned that the Storm might count too often on Nygren, though.

“Eventually, teams are going to see the stats and starting keying on certain players,” she said. “But I think we have enough balance there that Lily will not necessarily score goals but create them. There are other girls that have stepped up in big situations. They’re definitely capable.”

Scarborough improves to 8-1 with the win. The Storm are currently ranked second in A South, one slot behind Massabesic (9-1) and one ahead of Cheverus (8-2), to whom they suffered their only defeat. The team travels to Biddeford on Wednesday the 30th.

Westbrook drops to 4-5 on the loss. The No. 8 Blazes are sandwiched between TA (6-2) in seventh and Deering (4-6) in ninth. They host Noble on Wednesday before dropping in on Portland on Thursday.

Westbrook’s Avery Tucker escapes from Scarborough’s Liz Callahan in pursuit of a runaway ball on Monday night.Red Stormer Grace Bailer clashes with Blue Blaze Lindsay Hildreth near midfield on Monday night.The Blazes’ Alex Phelps hunts after a Red Storm opponent.Abby St. Clair pushes forward on the attack for Westbrook.Scarborough’s Lucy Bogdanovich (14) and Sydney Rusak (6) flank Westbrooker Delaney Derrig in the teams’ matchup on Monday night. Scarborough took the win, 3-1, after surging late to break a 1-1 stalemate.

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