PORTLAND – Dayle Jordan scored 1:04 into overtime Wednesday to lift St. Dominic to a 1-0 victory against Waynflete in the Western Class C girls’ soccer final at Fitzpatrick Stadium.
The goal came after Kayla McLellan and Kelley McLellan brought the ball deep into the attack area. The Flyers were unable to clear and Jordan, a defender who was up on the play, was in the right place to steer a loose ball into an open net.
Additional Photos
“I think it was a well-played ball for sure,” said Becky Smith of Waynflete. “I think they worked really hard for this and I think it could have come down to either team, really. We both worked and had a lot of chances in this game.”
This marked the second straight playoff overtime victory for the fourth-seeded Saints, who upset top-ranked Dirigo 2-1 in the regional semifinals.
The Saints (14-3) will play Central of Corinth (16-0-1) in the state championship game Saturday at Hampden Academy. Central beat Orono on penalty kicks after the teams played to a 3-3 tie through regulation and overtime in the Eastern Maine final.
Waynflete, the tournament’s third seed, finished the season 14-3.
Both teams created chances in an evenly played game, but neither goalkeeper was called upon to make a difficult save through regulation.
Waynflete’s best chance in the opening half was created when Sadie Cole was fouled just outside the penalty area. Smith lined up from 23 yards for a free kick that was handled by St. Dom’s goalkeeper Mary Caron.
Jordan was front and center in the Saints’ offensive opportunities in the first half. Her impressive flip throw-ins, twice launched into prime scoring territory, created good chances.
The best of the two, with three minutes remaining in the first half, ended up on the foot of Sarah Trott, but her shot went over the crossbar.
“I think that’s how they worked to create offense,” said Waynflete defender Rhiannan Jackson.
“We did a pretty good job handling it. We got as far back as we could to make sure that we were in front of the ball when it came through and then worked hard to get it out as fast as possible.”
The second half featured more of the same as the teams worked to get the upper hand.
Waynflete challenged with 7 1/2 minutes remaining when Cole worked herself free from defenders deep in the Saints’ end.
She passed to Ella Millard, who quickly moved the ball to Walker Foehl in an unsuccessful bid to break the scoreless game.
Another flip throw in the final 30 seconds of regulation had the Flyers scrambling, but Jordan’s attempt was punched out of harm’s way by Waynflete goalkeeper Juliana Harwood.
“I thought results-wise the ball could have bounced either way,” said Waynflete Coach Todd Dominski.
“It’s just unfortunate. It was going to happen either for them or for us. It wasn’t like one team outplayed the other. It was a 50-50 game and it went back and forth.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
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.