SACO — North Yarmouth Academy Coach Tracy Quimby calls Charlotte Eisenberg one of her “quiet” players, the type whose contributions can go unnoticed.
As afternoon turned to evening Tuesday at Thornton Academy, Eisenberg scored the Panthers’ loudest goal of the season, picking her spot expertly to beat Lisbon keeper Stevie Charest and win the Western Class C championship in the third round of penalty corners after the teams played to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two overtimes.
CLASS C STATE FINAL
WHO: NYA vs. Foxcroft Academy
WHEN: Saturday (TBA)
WHERE: Yarmouth High
Additional Photos
With the 2-1 win, NYA advanced to its fifth state title game in six years. The Panthers (14-2-1) will face Foxcroft Academy (16-0-1) on Saturday at Yarmouth High. NYA won state titles in 2008, 2010 and 2011.
“I got my stick on it and I didn’t want to throw it away so I just took a look up and I just pushed it as hard as I could. I didn’t want to wind up,” Eisenberg said.
NYA still had to stop Lisbon on its third penalty corner to secure the win. The top-seeded Greyhounds (13-3-1) took two shots. NYA junior goalie Elizabeth Coughlin (21 saves) stopped Hannah Jordan and then got help from defender Abby McKelvy on a second bid before the whistle blew for a Lisbon foul, ending the game.
Coughlin made all but one of her saves after halftime, including seven in the overtimes and penalty corners. Her best stop was on Jordan’s point-blank bid with four minutes left in the second overtime.
“I just tried to save all of them. I don’t really remember any of them,” Coughlin said.
The game was a rematch of the 2012 final won by Lisbon.
“(We) wanted this back. We really did not show up last year and Lisbon had a great game,” NYA’s Quimby said. “Our kids had a terrible day (last year) and could not get it together.
“Even though this wasn’t our best game, at least (we) showed up and we came out with a win.”
NYA has not lost to a Class C team (its losses were to Class A Falmouth and Class B York). Lisbon went to penalty corners against Dirigo in the regional semifinals.
“It stinks when it comes down to penalty corners because it could literally go either way and I told the girls after the game, that could have been us Saturday. You got here, you left it on the field and that’s sports,” Lisbon Coach Julie Wescott said.
Scoring chances, shots and even penalty corners were hard to come by in the first half, but it was evident that NYA senior Olivia Madore was a threat in transition.
One such rush turned into the first goal when Madore beat a defender and sent a hard cross through the circle. Senior captain Kayla Rose neatly and firmly shot it past Charest (five saves) with 10:39 left in the first half.
Rose suffered a head injury with 10:37 remaining in regulation and could not play the rest of the game. Quimby said she expects Rose to be able to play in the state championship game.
Lisbon senior captain Olivia Harrington tied the game early in the second half when her drive off the Greyhounds’ third penalty corner in less than three minutes deflected off the foot of an NYA player.
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or at:scraig@pressherald.comTwitter: SteveCCraig
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