NORTH BERWICK — The Noble and Marshwood girls soccer teams battled it out at William R. Bourbon Stadium on Wednesday night and in the end the two teams would leave with a 1-1 tie.
The Hawks (4-1-2) dominated possession during the first half. They opened up the scoring at the 11:18 mark as Zoe Boyer put Marshwood on the board.
Noble keeper Raegan Kelly had left her post at the goal to stop a corner shot. The shot hit the top of the post and bounced out in front of an empty goal and Boyer poked the ball into the back of the net.
“Marshwood’s a great team. They’re so strong and fast. They have strong players. Their two forwards are fast, their back three are extremely fast and physical,” said Noble head coach Mike Reil.
The Knights (4-1-3) would turn the tide in the second half with an early goal. With 33:39 left in regulation, Isabella Reil tied everything up for the Knights.
“Olivia Howard had a hard-working steal from a player and she was able to send it across and I was able to cut two defenders off by dribbling and then I read the ball and scored,” said Isabella Reil, who is the daughter of Noble’s head coach. “It felt good, especially in a high-pressure game.”
Mike Reil believes Isabella’s goal changed the momentum of the game.
“It lit up the bench, after that goal it became ‘oh yeah we can do this,’” said Mike Reil.
The goal was not the only adjustment that the Knights made in the second half.
“We switched our formation from the first half to the second half. We had a lot more pressure on them in the midfield. We’re transitioning from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 now and we’ve only had a couple practices because of the rain. Once we worked on the 4-4-2, we crowded the middle and we were able to slightly neutralize them,” said Mike Reil.
During the two overtime periods, each team battled but neither team was able to beat the opposing keeper.
Kelly made 11 stops in goal for the Knights, while Marshwood’s Nathalie Clavette stopped four shots in the contest.
“To be honest with you it’s all about these girl’s determination, sheer effort and grit. They refuse to lose,” said Mike Reil. “We work hard every single game. A tie is good for us.”
The Knights will host Gorham today.
— Sports Writer Sienna Barstow can be reached at sbarstow@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.