SANFORD — Aleks Kaurin finished with a goal and an assist off free kicks as he helped South Portland secure a 2-0 victory over Sanford at Alumni Stadium on Monday night.
“Last Tuesday, we lost to Portland in a game that we would have liked to have back — we didn’t think we played that great. We played really well on Saturday. We played really well tonight. Hopefully we keep it going tomorrow and we head into playoffs on a high note,” said South Portland head coach Bryan Hoy.
The Red Riots (9-4) opened up the scoring with 26:06 remaining in the first half. South Portland received a free kick at the 23-yard line. Kaurin sailed the ball over the Spartan’s wall and into Sanford goalie Garrett Gallant, who tried to get his hands on the ball but it slipped through and rolled into the back of the net to produce a 1-0 score.
“Aleks (Kaurin) is really dangerous over the ball. The first one, I think he just got the keeper. The keeper was moving the wrong way and it slipped through his hands,” said Hoy.
The Spartans (6-7) had an opportunity to tie the game midway through the first half. At the 15:30 mark, Isaac Plante got the ball on a breakaway and raced down the field. Unfortunately for Sanford, the senior’s shot would sail wide.
“I think we possessed the ball well. We tried going to the striker on top, but they did a great job of blocking out the striker,” said Sanford head coach Tim Fecteau.
With 18:44 left in regulation, the Red Riots scored the final goal of the night. South Portland received another free kick, this time at the 31-yard line. Kaurin fired a shot at the goal and Cooper Mehlhorn collected the rebound and rammed it into the back of the net to create the final 2-0 score.
“Both of our goals were on free kicks. The second one, Cooper (Mehlhorn) went up and challenged it and put it home, which was a really nice move on his part, but Alex (Kaurin) put two really good balls in the box,” said Hoy.
The margin of triumph would have been much larger if it wasn’t for the incredible play of Gallant. The senior stopped 12 tough shots throughout the game.
“Garrett is very good when he’s able to see the ball. Unfortunately, the first ball was a great direct kick.  It’s just one of those things. He’s been playing great all year. The defense has been playing great in front of him,” said Fecteau.
Hoy agreed with Fecteau.
“He did a really nice job. Especially in the last 10 minutes, he made a couple really good moves to keep the ball alive,” said Hoy.
South Portland keeper Shippen Savidge made four saves in the win.
Sanford will travel to Scarborough today for their last game before the Class A South playoffs.
“It’s going to be a battle so we’ll see — we’ll bring it,” said Fecteau.
— Sports Writer Sienna Barstow can be reached at sbarstow@journaltribune.com or at 780-9018. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.