LEWISTON — The Hall-Dale girls soccer team had the edge in shots and offensive pressure. Waynflete, however, had the edge where it mattered most — goals.
Lucy Hart scored with 24:46 remaining in the first half, and the No. 8 Flyers made it stand in a 1-0 victory over the top-seeded Bulldogs in a Class C South quarterfinal Thursday at Don Roux Field.
Waynflete (10-6-0) — which has eight shutouts this season — will host No. 4 Traip Academy in a regional semifinal round game Saturday. Hall-Dale finished 11-2-0.
“We play in a tough conference, so we know we’re usually better than our record shows,” said Carrie Earls, who co-coaches Waynflete with George Sherry. “I think that was clear (Thursday).”
The teams did not face each other in the regular season, but Hall-Dale coach Guy Cousins said he’s scouted the Flyers.
“We scouted them pretty well and they played exactly like we thought we were going to see,” he said. “Our unfortunate part is, we weren’t able to keep the ball down and play our possession game. They did put a lot of pressure on us defensively. We didn’t play as quickly as we typically play, and it disrupted our ability to possess the ball and work our way down and get a good scoring opportunity.
Hall-Dale had the advantage of shots (7-4) and possession during the first half. But with 24:16 remaining in the opening half, Waynflete made the most of a corner. A cross found its way to sophomore Hart, who had a straight shot in front of the net and knocked it into the net.
Waynflete’s Emily Girard, left, and Hall-Dale’s Marie Benoit go for a ball during a Class C South girls soccer quarterfinal game Thursday at Don Roux Field in Lewiston. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“It was a great cross, so I just took a swing at it and it went in,” she said.
“That was a goal worthy of any game to win,” Cousins added. “It was a fantastic volley off a corner. At least losing in a 1-0 game, it wasn’t a cheapie, that was a well-earned goal.”
Waynflete had another opportunity later in the half but had a shot go just wide of an open net.
The Bulldogs kept the pressure on the Flyers in the second half, missing on a few scoring chances — one on a free kick by Iris Ireland that Waynflete goalie Jesse Connors saved with 27 minutes remaining. Ten minutes later, Zoe Soule had a header that just missed wide of the net.
Hall-Dale would stay on the attack, but Waynflete’s defense held.
“Our defense has been great all year, really strong,” Hart said. “Especially (Thursday); they did a really great job keeping it away when they needed to.”
“We just didn’t want them to be comfortable at all,” Earls added. “We wanted to continuously put pressure on the ball. We knew they could win, we knew they could move the ball. They know how to play soccer, we just wanted to disrupt their flow and put pressure on the ball.”
Cousins credited his seniors after the game for their leadership during the season.
“Regardless (of the score), my girls did not quit,” Cousins said. “They just kept playing and played with all their hearts and soul. At the end of the day, they can look at each other and say, ‘Okay, we did everything we could to win the game.'”
Dave Dyer – 621-5640
ddyer@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @Dave_Dyer
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