The Riots attacked aggressively throughout their matchup with the visiting Eagles on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 15, but could never quite finish. Windhamite Maggie Symonds ultimately shattered a long stalemate in the second half, propelling her girls into the lead and onward to a 2-0 W.

South Portland knew full-well the challenge Windham presented them. “Windham have been a powerhouse for a long time in girls soccer,” said Riots head coach Jeff Selser. “They consistently are in the top two or teams in the SMAA, and with that comes a lot of confidence.

“We, on the other hand, are just now emerging as a team to be reckoned with. Because of this, we have trouble sustaining our outstanding play for a full 80 minutes, and we tend to get spooked by our own success, as odd as that may sound.”

“It was a hard-fought battle by both teams,” said Windham head coach Deb Lebel. “I do feel like we’re a little bit more skilled, and in the end, our skill did allow us to get the win. But it wasn’t pretty, and I did talk to my girls about: ‘You let the other team get in your head.’”

To watch the teams play, a spectator with no knowledge of the programs’ respective reputations and recent histories might’ve assumed South Portland to be the higher-ranked outfit. They controlled the attack through the first half, hammering persistently on the Eagles at midfield and in their defensive zone.

Selser felt his girls played “better pure soccer” than their guests. “We came out strong from the opening whistle, and pressed hard for a goal the entire first half,” he said. “Several chances went just wide, or just high, and Windham rarely challenged.”

The Riots posted one particularly narrow miss around the 18-minute mark of the first half, Sophie Chase feeding Callie O’Brien from the top of the Windham zone and McKenzie letting fly with a shot that sailed just high.

The Riots outshot the Eagles by a hair over the course of the bout, 17-16. Zoe Brown, in net for South Portland, tallied eight saves, while Kaitlyn Roberts, between the pipes for Windham, recorded seven.

South Portland, then, can fairly be said to have taken the momentum into the break.

“They definitely had some good opportunities,” said Lebel. “That’s a team that’s getting better and better every year. It showed at times, how badly they wanted it.”

The Eagles perhaps waltzed into South Portland not expecting to face such ferocity. But Windham, back-to-back State Champs in 2013 and 2014, nevertheless ably defended, and finally struck when Symonds scored on a picture-perfect cross. Selser called the goal “unsaveable.”

“You have to play hard right from the start,” said Lebel. “But our girls know the standings, and I feel like sometimes they take it a little lighter than they should.”

Lebel remarked on the quality of Symonds’s breakthrough notch. “It was a really nice cross from Meghan Hoffses – she’s gotten so much better this year about being able to cross right around the six. It connected really well, and we’ve been working on that. It was pretty.”

The game turned chippy early on, with Selser even describing the second half as “downright brutal.” The Riots pulled a yellow card early in the uphill minutes, and Windham pulled one in the downhill stretch. That card, in fact, resulted in a South Portland free kick, which Jenna Leckie took, but booted just high.

“I know there was a lot of emotion for South Portland,” Lebel said. “Because if they beat us, I think it would’ve put them in the playoffs. So they were playing with everything they had. I give a lot of credit the coach’s daughter, No. 4 (Juliana Selser). She played with heart, and not dirty at all. She’s very skilled.”

“In the end, [South Portland] tried as hard as they could,” said Lebel. “But I do think we were able to connect the passes. How we play best is when we make those little passes and connect as a team and move up the field as a team. That’s when we have success.”

The Eagles earned their second of the day in the waning seconds, when Brown attempted to blast the ball clear of a melee on her doorstep and it ricocheted in off a Windham opponent for the 2-0 final.

“The last goal, I felt horrible about,” said Lebel. “Their goalie just tried to punch it out, and one of my players just turned around and it bounced right off her chest.”

“Finishing has been a big problem for us this year, and it has been very frustrating for our athletes,” said Selser. “They are working so hard to get in good shooting positions, but we tend to either panic and take wild shots, or we take too many touches trying to set up the perfect shot. Neither one is effective, but both are very common in soccer. This year we have taken far more shots than in previous years. When we began our rebuilding project two years ago, it was unusual for us to take more than two or three shots per game, and in some games we took no shots. This year, we consistently are taking dozens of shots.”

The loss moved the Riots to 4-8-1 in 2016, and effectively dashed their dreams of a postseason berth. “I believe this loss, couple with Portland’s win over Sanford, drives a stake in the heart of our playoff hopes,” he said. “The rest of the soccer-playing world gives three points for a win, one point for a tie. If you follow that system – which is universal in soccer – then we would have that last playoff spot. But in Maine we have Heal Points, for better or for worse, and we will fall just short of the playoffs and of our goal for the season.”

Nevertheless, Selser is thoroughly happy with the progress South Portland has made in recent years.“Two years ago, South Portland girls soccer was a joke. Consistently getting blown out game after game after game. The players have put in a tremendous effort to change that, and it shows on the field. If we play our best for a full 80 minutes, I am confident we can beat any team out there. Once we get to that point, we will be among the top teams. We are well on our way. Before we started this project, SP was letting in 40 to 50 or more goals each season and struggling to score 10. This year we are looking to cut the goals against in half and more than double our own scoring output. If things go our way against Noble, we could finish with a positive goal differential for the first time in more than 10 years. Even more telling, however, is the brand of soccer we consistently display on the field. We usually out-possess our opponents, we are fierce and fast, we play with flair and heart, and we dominate the midfield. We also no longer are pinned down in our own half, praying for salvation.”

The Riots, currently 14th in A South – the top 12 teams reach the bracketing – hosted Noble (No. 12, actually, at 4-7-2) on Tuesday the 18th, after Current Publishing’s print deadlines. South Portland has picked up wins this season against Bonny Eagle, Massabesic, Westbrook and Biddeford.

Windham, meanwhile, jumped to 9-1-3. The team is securely in the playoffs – they’re ranked fifth in a tight race at the top of the league, right now, and their only loss thus far is to No. 1 Gorham. The Eagles hosted Scarborough (fourth at 9-2-2), also on Tuesday the 18th.

“It was a good win to get our confidence up,” said Lebel. “We had just come off a loss against Gorham, so it was good to get us back on track.”

Windham’s Alexa Belle Skvorak blasts away a ball vs. South Portland on Saturday.

Windham’s Hannah Kaplan pushes forward on the attack at South Portland on Saturday.

South Portland’s Meghan Graff works the ball in the midfield.

The Riots’ Jenna Leckie cruises toward a bouncing ball vs. visiting Windham on Saturday afternoon.

The ball squirts away from Windhamite Emily Kent and South Portlander Juliana Selser.

Grace Steady of South Portland belts away an incoming ball as a Windham opponent dashes in.

Windham’s Maggie Lloyd curls into the ball, looking to clear it from the Eagles’ zone.

 

Windhamite Megahn Hoffses and South Portlander Margaret Clay clash in pursuit of the ball, Clay getting the edge.

The Riots’ Bela Cloutier works the ball at midfield.

On the attack for South Portland, Sophie Chase moves the ball outward, looking to set something up.

Windham’s Caitlin Drouin unwinds into a cross-field pass attempt as South Portland’s Bela Cloutier charges in from behind.