SACO — Kaitlyn Roberts delivered a 10-save shutout Friday to lead Windham past Thornton Academy 2-0 in an SMAA girls’ soccer game.

Roberts made it look easy most of the game but did make a couple difficult saves en route to her fourth shutout of the season.

“(Roberts) is coming into her own,” said Coach Deb Lebel.

“She’s done a lot of training with our coach, Jim Stewart. I think her confidence is getting there.”

Just under 15 minutes into the game, Kerrigan Goudreau of Thornton (2-3)made a nice move on the right side and fired a low shot that Roberts turned away.

With 31/2 minutes left in the first half, Roberts made a great diving save to her left on a shot that looked like it was going to be a goal by Hannah Niles.

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“(Roberts) has made some amazing saves the last two games to keep us in it,” said Lebel.

The teams were scoreless until 13:30 remained in the first half before Maggie Lloyd of the Eagles (3-0-2) popped a shot from the left that was deflected by goalkeeper Abi Cook. A putback shot was tremendously saved by defender Abbey Carignan, who then tried to clear the ball out of the zone.

But Alanna Joyce took control and buried the third shot of the sequence into the bottom left of the net to give Windham a 1-0 lead.

“Alanna is very composed and she can find the back of the net,” said Lebel.

Caitlin Drouin then made it 2-0 off a beautiful pass from Sara Barrett with 19:22 left.

“(Drouin) typically plays defense but she has an awesome shot,” said Lebel.

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“That was really nice to see her score.”

Windham held a 1-0 halftime lead despite Thornton Academy dominating possession and outshooting the Eagles, 10-5.

“The first half was probably one of the better ones we’ve played all season,” said Thornton Coach Chris Kohl.

In the second half, Windham continued its momentum built from the end of the first half and outshot the Trojans, 8-5.

“Our intensity dropped a little (in the second half),” said Kohl.

The coaches agreed that the SMAA is tight this season.

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“This year the league is a lot closer in terms of talent,” said Lebel. “We said, ‘whoever wants most of these games is going to take (them).’ “

“This is my 11th year and this is probably the most competitive I have seen the league, top to bottom,” said Kohl.

After winning its first two games, Thornton has lost three straight and has been shut out in back-to-back games.

“It’s one game at a time. We’re going to take the things we need to work on from this game and incorporate them into our next two practices,” said Kohl.

“Our next game is Noble and that’s what we need to focus on.”


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