BATH

Defense was the name of the game at McMann Field on Wednesday.

Both Leavitt and host Morse displayed just that, keeping each other off the scoreboard in the second half and two overtimes to play to a 1-1 tie in girls high school soccer.

Morse moves to 2-2-1, while Leavitt stands at 1-3-1.

The two Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference schools each registered first-half goals before being blanked in the final 50-plus minutes of the game.

“That was fun to be a part of. Leavitt is a hard-working team,” Morse coach Branden Noltkamper said. “They’re organized and have a style of play that suits them really well and put pressure on us.”

Leavitt coach Avalon Amador was also pleased with her team’s performance.

“Our goal for the game was to consistently play our game,” Amador said. “We wanted to slow the game down even though we were on turf, which really gave us the advantage when we were able to keep the tempo up while staying composed.”

Each team had chances early on in the half. Five minutes into the contest, Morse attacked with Emily Martin closing in on the net, but her shot missed wide.

Leavitt missed a chance midway through the half when the midfielders broke free of the Morse defense and passed the ball into the circle. That’s when Morse senior Mae Winglass broke up the play before the Hornets were able to get a shot off.

The Hornets reached the back of the net first, with a score at the 12:31 mark. Emily Sawn received a pass from midfield and found Jenna Boucher in front where the senior blasted a shot past Morse keeper Abby Sreden (six saves).

“It was an amazing pass and I knew I had to get a good shot off,” said the senior.

“It was just nice to see us crashing the net hard and creating opportunities,” Amador said. “Jenna is one of our senior captains and is one of our leaders. She has the most amazing work ethic. She’s a quiet leader, but leads by example.”

However, four minutes later, the Shipbuilders evened the score. Freshman Wren Tetreault made a pass to Martin and the junior used her quickness to get a shot off, putting it past Leavitt keeper Abigail Bays (four saves).

“Wren hit it to me and I used my speed to get to the net,” Martin said.

Despite defenses teaming up on her, Martin seems to find a way.

“They can double or triple team her and she finds a way to get the ball. She genuinely makes everyone around her better,” said Noltkamper.

Martin admits she gets frustrated with the double teaming, but also recognizes she doesn’t have to do it alone.

“It does a little bit, it gets a little annoying,” noted Martin. “If you can still work with each other, which we showed, we have more people on the ball that can deal with it and take some of the pressure off.”

Morse nearly broke the tie with under seven minutes left when Martin found Julia Cliffe streaking down the middle, but Cliffe’s shot sailed over the net.

In the second half, Martin nearly punched home another goal 16 minutes in. Off a direct kick, Martin sent the ball over the net.

Fifteen minutes later, Leavitt nearly did the same. Hornet Annika Mitchell sent a free kick towards the net, but Martin was able to intercept the kick by heading the ball away from the net, eventually resulting in a goal kick for Morse.

“We had a couple of opportunities in front of the net, but their defense was strong and quick,” Amador said.

Martin and the ‘Builders had one more shot on net in regulation that missed again wide.

“I know I have to finish, I missed some chances,” Martin said.

In the two five-minute overtimes, Morse had a couple of shots on goal, but neither team made a run and the game ended in the tie.

“We had dozens of chances today, but that’s good, it’s OK,” Noltkamper said. “I told the girls they can be upset with the outcome if they want to be, but you can’t be mad about the performance. We’ve been putting the work in in our training in all facets of our game.”

Coach Amador was satisfied with the effort.

“We take what we’re learning and applying it to game situations,” the coach said. “We’ve been building up to that the last few games and this game I saw us connect the dots.”

Morse travels to Oceanside on Friday to take on the Mariners at 3:30 p.m.