GORHAM – Nine seconds.

That was what the digital scoreboard at Gorham High School read as Scarborough senior midfielder Sarah Little’s ball sailed high over the head of Rams’ keeper Sarah Perkins, landing softly in the back of the net. It wasn’t a particularly pretty goal, or an outstanding shot by any means, but it was enough to end an 89-minute scoring drought for Gorham (3-1) and Scarborough that took both teams to the final seconds of double overtime and the brink of a tie.

Instead, Little dropped her shoulders and appeared to sigh in relief as she was mobbed by her bench and teammates on the field. The unbeaten streak would live to see another day, and Scarborough would improve to 4-0 on a 1-0 win against a tough Rams team that had just as many chances to score as the Red Storm did.

“I thought it could go either way,” said Scarborough Head Coach Mike Farley. “I thought this game was played at such a high level and was very competitive the whole time. There were two or three chances they had at our end, where one touch and it’s going in the goal. The same thing was true at their end, where one or two touches and we might have gone in. I didn’t think we had an advantage, but I knew that if we could settle the game down and get it more under control, our talent would take over.”

The contest was extremely physical from the start. Gorham elected to play three midfielders against Scarborough’s two, and so the Rams largely controlled the center of the field. Most of the Red Storm’s scoring chances throughout the game came on long drives down the sideline, whereas Gorham was able to push down the center at leisure.

“They had three players in center midfield, so they had a numbers advantage there,” Farley said. “I was a little nervous about it myself, and we would have made a change, but our two center midfielders were battling enough to win those balls and not allowing players to run through freely, so I thought, you know what? If they’re not going to put any more players in the top, we’re going to be stronger in the back, and we can use those outside backs to kind of go forward.”

Despite this, Gorham seemed to make a habit of beating the Storm players to loose balls, and intercepting Scarborough passes. In the last 20 minutes of regulation, as both teams began to wear down, this nearly paid out for the Rams, who appeared to be in the drivers’ seat as time wound down.

“I thought at times we were perhaps almost too physical,” said Gorham Head Coach Jeanne Zarrilli. “I think that started to hurt us when we became so physical that we wound up giving the ball back to them. In the future, I’d like to see us remain physical, but to also exercise more control.”

Both of the five-minute overtimes featured scoring opportunities for each team. The Storm almost won it all on a shot from junior midfielder Meghan Tyson that went in the net, but was called back on an offsides penalty. The Rams responded with several dangerous cross shots that dribbled along in front of the Scarborough goal and would have needed just a small boot to enter the net. With time running out in the second overtime, Scarborough keeper Jill Deering kicked a shot out of the net that the Rams appeared to briefly control until the Storm took it away. After a footrace down midfield, Little took a pass into the bench-side corner, centered, moved around the defender, and booted an arcing floater that barely cleared the inside of the top bar.

“I knew that I was matched up one-on-one, and I saw that the goalie was off her line, so I took a shot,” Little said. “During the huddle in overtime, coach said that we needed to step up and win those individual battles, and win it when the ball was in the air. We just kind of had to work together and play smart.”

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