ROCKPORT — Sophomore Kris Kelly scored the 68th goal of her high school career Wednesday, helping top-ranked Camden Hills repeat as Class A North girls’ soccer champion with a 3-1 victory against third-seeded Bangor at Palmer Field.
Kelly also had an assist as the Windjammers (16-0-1), the reigning state champions, beat the Rams (12-4-1) in the regional final for the second straight year.
Camden Hills will play Scarborough for the state title at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Hampden Academy.
“These girls love to score goals,” said Camden Hills Coach Meredith Messer after her team beat Bangor for the second time this season. “We’ve got a lot of girls who can score goals and one of the best attributes of this team is they are unselfish. They get the ball to whoever is open when we’re attacking, and they stay very calm.”
The Windjammers have 103 goals in 17 games.
“It’s tough to get things going against (Camden Hills),” Bangor Coach Joe Johnson said. “You have to defend the whole field, (and) they pass and possess the ball very well.”
Camden Hills held a 12-2 edge in shots and 5-1 in corner kicks.
“They have a lot of good players up front and they’re just solid in the midfield,” Johnson said. “You have to get behind them to score but it’s tough to get the ball behind them.”
Kelly opened the scoring after 14 minutes, curling a left-footed shot from just to the right of the bubble inside the left post for her 38th goal of the season.
“I knew if I stepped (past) the defender, there would probably be some space so I just went for it,” said Kelly, who used defenders in front as a screen.
With less than nine minutes left in the half, Rowan Andrews tied it, pushing the ball past goalie Isabelle Lang following Maddie Cormier’s corner kick from the right. The goal came on the Rams’ first shot of the game.
The ‘Jammers regained the lead 10 minutes into the second half when Kelly set up Eliza Roy. After weaving through three defenders on the right, Kelly slid the ball to Roy, who lifted a shot from just outside the goalie box off the crossbar and in to make it 2-1.
With about 10 minutes left, freshman Lexi Heidorn completed the scoring when Bangor goalie Alexis LeBreton was unable to hold a hard shot from just inside the penalty area to the right of the goal.
Kelly credited her teammates with helping her score so many goals.
“The team is always supportive,” she said. “Even when I’m being double-teamed, they create space for me with a through ball or something, (and) there’s always a way around it. No matter who it is up front, we’ve always been able to find that space.”
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