South Portland 2

Thornton Academy 1

The South Portland girls’ soccer team entered the Western Maine tournament as the 11th seed after finishing the regular season with a 6-8 record. Thornton Academy entered the tourney with an 8-3-3 mark as the No. 6 seed. Friday afternoon, the two teams got together at Hill Stadium in Saco and the Red Riots came away with a 2-1 upset victory to earn a spot in the quarterfinals.

“I think we cashed in on our opportunities and played some nice defense,” said South Portland head coach Andy Pappas. “Even though they got a lot of shots, I don’t think they were quality shots. That’s where we won the game.”

The Trojans certainly did have their chances. Early in the first half, a corner kick opportunity nearly turned into a goal but South Portland goalie Brianna Hawkins swatted the ball away from the net. Hawkins came up big for the Riots all day and finished with 19 saves.

“Soccer is a cool game at times, you can have opportunity after opportunity after opportunity,” said Thornton head coach Chris Kohl. “(Hawkins) was the star of the game by far. She played a heck of a game and that’s the reason they won the game. We had tons and tons of opportunities. We didn’t make the most of them and that’s the way it is.”

The Red Riots got on the board first 17 minutes into the game. Erica Waterhouse got the ball ahead to Emily Masters just inside the box. Masters fired a shot on net that found its way past Thornton goalie Elizabeth Sawyer for a 1-0 South Portland lead.

The Trojans had a handful of chances to tie the game before halftime, but were unable to cash in.

Early in the second half it was apparent that it was just a matter of time before Thornton tied the score. They got four shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half and had a pair of chances that were foiled by the South Portland defense at the last minute.

Finally, Kaitlyn Hall put the Trojans on the board to tie the game at one. Savannah Ribaudo made the pass to Hall, who chipped the ball toward the net on a one-timer. The ball deflected off the post and past Hawkins. That goal seemed to give the Trojans a boost.

“I thought we were going to continue to get it down there,” Kohl said. “We had more opportunities and it just wasn’t meant to be today for whatever reason.”

The Trojans continued to threaten but couldn’t take the lead. The Red Riots broke the tie on a corner kick midway through the second half. Danielle McCusker sent the ball in and Danielle DiBiase made the shot and it got by Sawyer and South Portland was back on top.

“I just wanted the ball,” DiBiase said. “It went right past the goalie. I got it as fast as I could.”

DiBiase’s goal came on South Portland’s best chance of the second half. Pappas said the play was one his team had practiced.

“It was a corner kick set piece and it finally worked,” he said. “We’ve been working on it. Danielle was in the right spot at the right time and put it in. It was designed that way.”

Over the final 22 minutes, the Trojans had the advantage, but couldn’t put the ball past Hawkins to tie the score. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Riots swarmed Hawkins to celebrate their win.

“You can only ask them to go out and give their best effort and try as hard as they can,” said Kohl. “Their keeper stopped everything that came her way. She was the star of the game. She was hot today and that’s what happens, its one of those things where you can out shoot someone and lose 2-1. We had our opportunities.”

The Trojans finished their season earlier than they would have like but Kohl said his team has a lot to be proud of.

“These kids have fought through so much adversity this year,” he said. “We had kids that have been banged up and injured and they never used it once as an excuse. I’m really proud of what they have done all season. I couldn’t ask for anything more. You hate to lose but this is the way soccer is at times. It’s a heartbreaker.”

The Red Riots advanced to the quarterfinals where they were scheduled to face rival Portland on Tuesday after the Current’s deadline, see www.keepMEcurrent.com for more on the game.