Fifty-two straight games without a loss – and counting.

The Gorham High girls soccer team has not been defeated since early in the 2005 season. And that streak remained intact on Monday afternoon with the Rams’ 4-3 victory over Greely in the West A regional final. The top-seeded Rams (16-0-1) will now face Waterville (16-0-1) at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Windham for the Class A state title.

The Rams are a team that knows how to win and they’re also a team that hates to lose, and that was apparent in Gorham on Monday. But nonetheless, they needed all the talent and guile on their roster to beat back a strong and resilient Greely team that had every intention of toppling the three-time defending state champions.

Gorham’s Rachele Burns headed in the game-winning goal with just 53.3 seconds remaining in regulation off a beautifully placed pass from Katie Zarrilli. That winning score came less than 30 seconds after Greely had netted the tying goal to make it a 3-3 game with 1:16 to play.

“I know that all I have to do is lob it over the defenses and she’s always going to be right there,” Zarrilli said about Burns. “She’s always looking to head it in the goal.”

“I knew that she was going to get me the ball. That’s what she does,” said Burns about Zarrilli. “And I knew that it was my turn to score.”

It was also Burns’ turn to score on two other occasions during the game as the junior forward made plays that resulted in scores for her team.

Kristi Zarrilli got the Rams going with the first score of the game (off an assist from Burns) just 10 minutes into the contest. Burns added to the Gorham total with another score 29 minutes into the first half (assist from Molly Folan) and the Rams found themselves controlling play and heading into halftime with a 2-0 advantage.

To their credit, Greely continued to battle and pressure the Gorham backs when the second half got underway. Jesse Reade pulled the Rangers within one with a goal at 13:36 of the second half and Teal Bryan knotted the score at 2-2 with a second Ranger tally five minutes later.

“They weren’t ready to go home yet. They were ready to do battle and they surprised us with a couple goals,” Gorham coach Jeanne Zarrilli said about Greely. “They just came on and we got caught on our heals (at the start of the second half). We had played really well in the first half – dominating the game.”

“We knew that if it was going to be their last 40 minutes they were going to play them as hard as they possibly could,” Katie Zarrilli said about the Rangers. “We did get a little defensive, but then we just gave it all we had.

Gorham quickly regrouped and started an offensive attack of their own. Burns scored her second goal of the game just 26 seconds after Greely had tied the score. The Rams held onto that lead despite some decent scoring chances for the Rangers and the time left to play kept dwindling for the Rangers.

In the final minute-and-a-half of play, Greely had one last opportunity to draw even and they did when Teal Bryan caught up to a long ball and booted it past Gorham goalie Luci Pike to make it 3-3 with 1:16 to go.

“They definitely gave us a great game – they never gave up,” Burns said about Greely. “We fought hard both ways.”

Instead of sending the game to overtime, that score only set up Burns and Zarrilli for their heroics 23 seconds later.

“Rachele’s a competitor. She doesn’t stop for one second,” said Coach Zarrilli.

“I couldn’t believe it. It happened after their second goal, too,” Pike said about her team’s quick response to Greely’s game-tying goals.

“We lost four big players (from last year’s team) and we really have only two starting seniors, so the team is very young,” Coach Zarrilli noted about her team, which will be seeking the school’s fourth straight state title on Saturday. “And that youth and experience catches up with us sometimes. But we have a core group that’s had enough experience to stay with it. I really didn’t know how well we would do (this year).”