PORTLAND – Abby Maker wasn’t going to let a little thing like a broken wrist slow her down.

Despite sporting a cumbersome-looking cast on her right wrist, the sophomore forward scored twice to help Cheverus to a convincing 5-0 season-opening victory over McAuley in a Western Class A girls’ soccer game Friday afternoon at Cheverus’ Boulos Stadium.

“I fractured the growth plate in the Greely (pre-season) game but it’s no big deal and the cast will be off in four weeks,” Maker said.

Maker was front-and-center in an offensively dominating performance in which McAuley rarely ventured over midfield, especially in the opening half.

Cheverus had 11 first-half scoring chances, including two balls that found the crossbar, but entered halftime 0-0.

Two of the Stags’ best first-half chances came in the later stages of the period off free kicks. First, a long delivery by senior midfielder Leann Morrison was on the mark and blocked by McAuley junior goalkeeper Molly Miller. A goal-line scramble ensued before the ball eventually rolled wide. Two minutes later another free kick, by junior midfielder Victoria Nappi, from a similar spot resulted in another chance before Miller smothered it.

Advertisement

“We were a little frustrated in the first half and for us to re-gather at the half was key for us,” Maker said. “Once we got that first one in the second half, (chances) just kept on coming.”

The relentless Cheverus offensive pressure paid off early in the second period when Morrison connected with junior midfielder Darby Rawcliffe, who sent a blast high to the right of a leaping Miller to give the Stags a 1-0 advantage. Maker followed with two goals in quick succession to blow the game open. The first came off a crisp forward pass from junior midfielder Eden Monsen and the second was an impressive individual effort that saw her bowl through the McAuley defense before delivering a perfect shot to the top left corner.

“The score line doesn’t indicate how good they are and how consistently we actually played,” said Cheverus Coach Dan Lavallee. “It was just a question of the shots going in or not. That ball must have been on that goal line three times with the goalie scrambling.”

Senior back Allie Thomas, on a penalty shot, and junior back Danielle Kane completed the Cheverus scoring.

McAuley’s best scoring chance came late in the contest as Delaney Regan sent a long-distance shot off the inside of the crossbar. The ball ricocheted straight down before it was cleared by Stags keeper Sarah Nappo, who replaced starter Mikayla Mayberry midway through the second half.

“They’re a top-five, maybe a top-three club this fall and we ran with them for about 60 minutes,” said McAuley Coach Vince Aceto. “They were dominating and when you can throw in 12 or 13 subs of that level of skill, it’s going to wear down on new girls that are on a varsity team.”

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.