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September 9, 2022 · 5:27 pm

Scarborough defeats defending Class A champion Windham 1-0

Emma Blanchette and Ali Mokriski celebrate a goal

(Windham) A beautiful moon was rising in the background as Scarborough edged Windham, 1-0, on Thursday night at Windham.

The Portland Press Herald had both teams (Windham/Scarborough) worthy of watching as well as four players (Abbey Thornton, Stella Gervais, Lana Djuranovic, Ali Mokriski) equally deserving of a special look.

Those stars were definitely special tonight and each one impressed me.

Both teams had players who could possess the ball and both teams were quick to go on the attack.

It was exciting to watch.

Senior Ali Mokriski (Bryant commit) produced the game winner with 10:55 left in the game.

Ali set up the scoring opportunity by pressuring the Lady Eagles defense and causing a violation to be committed.

Ali’s score came off a direct kick from about twenty yards on the right side.

“It was set up just right for her,” said Scarborough coach Mike Farley afterwards. “She is left-footed and just wrapped it around the side of the wall.”

Ali said, “it was set up perfectly so that I could get the ball around the wall and go to the other side of the goalie.”

Ali Mokriski’s shot gets just inside the post

It was certainly not an easy shot.

“I had a feeling she was going to wrap it around,” recalled Windham coach Deb LeBel post-game. “It was perfectly placed. It was a great shot.”

And that was all the scoring there was….although both teams had chances long range and in close.

Sophomore Sophie Rinaldi had the shutout for the (3-0) Red Storm.

The Scarborough GK sounded like a future coach afterwards when asked about getting the win and the shutout. “It was very exciting, but we really need to focus on the rest of the season. It’s early.”

Sophie spent the second half in front of the active Eagles student section with a slippery grass field in front of her.

“It was pretty hectic at times,” she said.

Sophie got high praise from Coach Farley. “Sophie had the game of her life. She made a ton of good saves.”

Goalie Sophie Rinaldi mobbed by teammates at the end of the game

“I’ve been asking our goalies to make those one or two saves that keep us in it,” he added. “She probably made four in this one and made it look easy.”

The most dangerous attacker for the Lady Eagles is Abbey Thornton. Abbey had 32 goals last year in Windham’s undefeated (19-0) Class A championship season. She had a goal in the title win versus Brunswick.

Abbey can create her own space and she moved into some with eighteen minutes left in the game. Abbey launched a laser that clanked off the crossbar.

“We dodged a bullet when Abbey got that open shot,” said Coach Farley.

If you’re thinking that a little lower would have been a goal, not so fast. “I literally had my hands right under the crossbar,” explained GK Sophie Rinaldi. “So, it was either the crossbar or my hands.”

Abbey was in the middle of some more excitement in the final two minutes in front of the Scarborough net. The ball got into the box with lots of players there. The ground was mushy and players from both sides were struggling to get a foot on the ball. Down went Abbey as she tried to get control. Foul? Not according to the official. That lack of a call didn’t set well with Windham afterwards. My picture of the action, however, would suggest that Abbey fell over the ball and would justify the lack of a whistle.

Coach LeBel had Scarborough as “the team to beat in the league” even before this game was played.

“It was tough to play a game like this for our second game,” she added. “To have a close game with them this early makes me happy with the way we played. We had our chances. Our goalie (Reilly Russell) was very good tonight. The ball just didn’t fall. We’re fine. We have a young team. We’ll clean up some things and we’ll be fine.”

Ali Mokriski and Lana Djuranovic totaled thirty-nine goals for Scarborough last year.

Windham’s Stella Jarvais was on the SMAA’s all-conference first team last year as a freshman. She was an excellent defender vs Scarborough. She went down with a leg cramp in the second half but returned. I’m sure the cramp was painful but someway the players from both sides were smiling as she was being attended to.

Scarborough was the Class A champion from 2017-2019.

It was a beautiful night for soccer. The 6PM start provided a first half of daylight. Did I mention that the moon was spectacular?

It is not a reach to imagine Scarborough and Windham meeting in the regional Class A finals.

The moon over the field was eye-catching

Penalty kicks get Windham past Scarborough 1-0 in Western Class A semifinals

Liz Mycock blocks the penalty kick of Sam Sparda.

Windham celebrating begins on the field and in the stands

(Windham ME) What a memorable day……..and I’m not just writing about the weather!

The Windham Lady Eagles used the penalty-kick route to get by nemesis Scarborough, 1-0, on a Saturday afternoon where both the weather and the girls’ soccer were terrific.

The win for the Eagles (15-0-1) pushes them into the Western Class A finals against Thornton Academy on Wednesday at Windham High School.

The last three times Windham has faced Scarborough (12-2-2), regulation and overtimes have not been enough to separate the two teams.

Today was the third time and since it was a state tournament game there was a step beyond regulation and overtimes………penalty kicks and they were needed in this Western Class A semifinal game.

backup Windham goalie Liz Mycock

The unlikely heroine for the Eagles in the penalty-kick part of this game was junior backup goalie Liz Mycock. WHS coach Deb Lebel opted to switch in Liz ahead of starting goalie Kate Kneeland because as Coach Lebel said afterwards, “she is a little taller.” Coach Lebel also added the Kate had no problem with the switch.

Sometimes a crucial decision like this one can backfire but it certainly didn’t this time for Windham.

In the first PK round, Liz gave up a goal to Katherine Kirk, but after that Scarborough was blanked on three straight attempts (Morgan Rodway, Hadlee Yescott, and Sam Sparda).

Meanwhile, Windham started with a goal by Jenna Soucy before Red Storm GK Sydney Martin turned back two straight Eagles attempts (Cassie Symonds and Jordan Sargent).

In the fourth round Emily Gilman put a grounder past Sydney into the right corner.

Liz Mycock watches the shot of Lauren Shoemaker go in the net to win the game for Windham

With Windham up two goals to one going into the fifth round, the stage was set for senior Lauren Shoemaker. Lauren put a bullet high into the left corner and the Lady Eagles earned a trip to the Western Class A finals as a result.

This game was decided with penalty kicks but the primary reason it got that far was because of the extraordinary goalkeeping of Scarborough’s Sydney Martin. No surprise that the senior was voted to the Western Class A All-Star team recently.

Sydney faced a ton of shots – 38 by one reporter’s estimate. Jenna Soucy (two goals when team’s met two weeks ago) dribbled her way into excellent looks several times. The most dangerous of Jenna’s attempts was midway through the second half.

There were several key moments in this game.

Scary moment as Cassie Symonds and Ainsley Jamieson go down from a collision.

One of them was in the last 1 1/2 minutes of the first half when Cassie Symonds and Ainsley Jamieson had a nasty collision near midfield. Both went down and walked off but Ainsley was done for the day with an injury to her left arm (wrist?). The Red Storm defense missed Ainsley’s height and strong leg.

Another key moment happened with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first overtime. Scarborough goalie Sydney Martin ran out from the goal and misfired on a goal kick. The very short kick went straight to Windham’s Ariana Davidson who quickly lobbed a return over Sydney’s head that fortunately for Scarborough bounced off the crossbar.

Coach Lebel said that it would have been a tough way to win the game after the Red Storm goalie had played so well during the game.

Ciera Berthiaume chased by Bridget Cange

One of the most dangerous scoring threats for Windham (sophomore Ciera Berthiaume) put several hard shots on net.

The Red Storm are the defending state Class A champions.

Windham has only lost twice in their last forty games, both times to Scarborough.

Scarborough has only lost five times in their last fifty-two games.

I was attracted to this game because of the terrific records these teams had going into this match. Another attraction was that the Portland Press Herald’s, “25 Players to Watch,” included four players (Ciera Berthiaume, Cassie Symonds, Ainsley Jamieson, and Sydney Martin) playing in this one.

Windham and Scarborough tied in 2012 & 2013. Scarborough won the previous four matches.

Cassie Symonds, Jenna Soucy, Jordan Sargent, and Emily Gilman made the 2013 Western Class A All-Star team for Windham.