KENNEBUNK — Maya Schulert assisted on a goal in the first half, and scored one of her own in the second half as Kennebunk beat Biddeford 2-0 in both teams’ season opener at Kennebunk High School on Thursday.
Ashley Huston scored on a pass from Schulert midway through the first half to give the Rams an early lead. They dominated possession throughout the half after Biddeford had an early opportunity that they couldn’t capitalize on.
“That was something that we were struggling with in our preseason,” said Kennebunk head coach Kayla Billings about controlling time of possession. “It was a goal of ours over the past two weeks to really push more offensively and not play as defensively as we’ve been playing. So I was very proud of my forwards for working together and my midfielders for supporting them and helping in that transition.”
It was more of the same for the Rams in the second half. Schulert scored less than 10 minutes into the half when Kennebunk pressured Biddeford goalie Marissa Heffernan, trying to get the ball past her in a scrum. Schulert was finally able to push one past Heffernan for the second and final goal of the game.
“Maya is a player that comes out of nowhere, literally, at times,” said Billings. “Her skill sitting, which she demonstrated with her goal, where she dove in there and tipped in for us, was something that I was very proud of her for doing. Because she sometimes will hesitate, and not be sure of herself.”
Despite giving up the two goals, Heffernan had a solid day in goal for the Tigers. She had a few kick saves in the first half that prevented Kennebunk from opening the game up. What made it even more impressive is that Heffernan is actually an injury replacement for the injured starter, and had only been in pads for the last couple days, said Biddeford coach Leslie Mourmouras. Heffernan got some experience playing in goal last year, but Mourmouras said she looked better on Thursday.
“She was looking good in practice, and I think it transferred over here,” said Mourmouras. “She’s stronger and quicker than she was last year at this time.”
Billings was happy with what she saw from her team, noting the first game of the season is always a little bit of the unknown.
“You always are (happy to open the season with a win), especially when you have a younger team, and you’re looking at if they’re going to play well together, and how the connections are going to be made on the field. So I was pretty impressed with the things they were able to do today,” said Billings.
— Contact Wil Kramlich at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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