Korinne Bohunsky scored in the first half and Marin Smith in the second to lead Marshwood to a 2-1 victory over Deering in a Western Class A girls’ soccer match Monday at Memorial Field.
“It’s great to get a good, hard-played win,” Marshwood back Paige Singer said. “I’m glad we were able to pull it out.”
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It was a closer match than might have been expected. The Hawks (8-2-1) entered the game ranked No. 3 in the Western Class A Heal point standings, days removed from their only losses, 4-2 against No. 2 Thornton Academy and 7-0 against No. 1 Windham. Deering (6-5) came in ranked eighth and amid a slide of three straight losses by shutout.
But it was anything but one-sided, as Deering finished with slim leads in shots (13-10), shots on goal (6-5) and corner kicks (6-4). Much of the game was played in midfield, as each team’s defenders canceled out the opposition’s attack.
“This (win) is a good energy booster,” Bohunsky said. “We play better when we feel good about ourselves, and this will help us keep our energy up.”
Bohunsky put the Hawks up in the fourth minute off a corner kick, driving a chip shot from the scrum. The ball hit the crossbar, caromed straight down and bounced back up to hit the bar a second time.
“I wasn’t sure they were going to count it,” Bohunsky said. “It was a close one, right on the line.”
Deering then went on the attack, slipping through balls ahead of striker Simone Lauture, whose speed quickly caught the Hawks’ attention. The task of isolating Lauture fell to Singer and Hailey Tarr.
“Once we realized she was the one they kept giving the ball to,” Singer said, “we kind of sagged off her and forced them to play it around.”
Marshwood nearly made it 2-0 in the 12th minute. Deering keeper Emily Mooney (three saves) made the initial stop of a direct kick, but the rebound fell to Sydney Jackman, who hammered a shot from 10 yards. Mooney knocked it wide left.
With Lauture marked, the Rams turned to the slick midfield play of Ewka Varney and Cora Melcher. Varney tied it at 1 early in the second half, dribbling through three defenders and driving a low ball past Marshwood keeper Emily Robida (five saves).
The Hawks scored the winner in the 66th minute amid controversy. Mooney stepped up to catch a Marshwood direct kick, grabbed the ball and fell to the ground. Marin Smith knocked it free and poked it into the net.
“I thought it was in her hands but I said, ‘I’m just going to keep going,'” Smith said. “We’re always told to follow our shots and that’s what I did.”
“All I can say is what (Mooney) said,” Deering Coach Kevin Olson said, “that she completely had it firmly in her hands. It was a judgment call by the officials. We had our opportunities and we should have had a couple more.”
From there, the Rams pushed hard.
“Deering applied overwhelming pressure over the last 15 minutes,” Marshwood Coach Luke Edgar said. “The end really made us nervous and to survive it, you do walk away feeling relieved. It’s not ideal because you want to feel like you played your best for the entire game and I don’t think we played our best for the entire game.”
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