Sanford wins 5th straight in 1-0 win over Red Riots

SOUTH PORTLAND — It’s five and counting for the Sanford girls soccer team.

The Redskins won their 5th game in a row after beating South Portland 1-0 at Martin Memorial Field.

At 5-1, Sanford sits in third place in the MPA Heal Point standings. Only Cheverus (5-0-1) and Gorham (4-2) are above the Redskins. After starting the season off with a 2-0 loss against Deering, the Redskins upset defending Western Class A champions Thornton Academy 2-1 on Sept. 8 and haven’t lost since.

“We were a young team again, but we had a lot of people come in with experience and have played together for a while, so I was expecting us to be good, but not this good,” Sanford senior captain Taylor Flood said.

Flood scored the lone goal for the Redskins in the first half. She tried to make a cross-pass from the left corner, but in a string of luck, the ball found it’s way into the net.

“I was trying to cross it,” Flood said. “But the defender hit it and it just kept rolling in a little bit. But I meant to cross it, I wasn’t expecting that at all.”

Sanford was able to keep pressure on the Red Riots side of the field for most of the first half. In the second half, the Red Riots picked up the pace, but the Redskins defense stepped up. Redskins goalie Kellie Tovey made five saves on the night, the highlight being her final save – jumping up and picking off a header off a corner kick with two minutes to play – to seal the shutout. Tovey has not allowed a goal in three straight games.

Flood credited Tovey – as well of the rest of the Redskins – with their 5-1 record.

“We’re just playing well as a team,” Flood said. “Our goalie’s being good, midfield, defense, offense. We’re sprinting well, passing well, we’re just doing everything well right now.”

Sanford almost scored again with nine minutes to play in regulation, when Taylor Littlefield smacked a shot that hit the top crossbar.

In its final eight games, Sanford plays teams that are all in the middle or bottom half of the Western Class A standings. Windham, with a 3-1-2 record, and who beat Thornton on Thursday night, will be the toughest team the Redskins will face the rest of the way.