CUMBERLAND — Kennebunk faced a constant stiff wind in the first half of its Western Maine Conference girls soccer game against Greely on Tuesday. In the Rangers, the Rams also faced stiff competition, and the combination of both resulted in a 5-0 Kennebunk loss at Glenn A. Hutchins Field.
Greely (8-1-1) wasted no time in attacking the Rams net with the wind at its back, as Izzy Hutnak got past the defense on a breakaway 2:30 in, only to be stuffed by Kennebunk (5-3-2) goalie Kyra Schwartzman.
Schwartzman had to make two more tough saves in the first 10 minutes, as she stopped a Jocelyn Mitiguy shot from the top of the penalty box, and later faced a high shot by Hutnak from 25 yards out that she bobbled before securing.
Schwartzman was then left dead in the water just under 12 minutes in, as Hutnak got behind the defense and sent a low shot past Schwartzman to open the scoring.
“I think they move it well through the midfield, and when they first get that ball over the top, their offense is incredibly fast and they’re able to get around people,” Kennebunk senior defender Caroline Hoch said of the Greely attack.
Hoch had to make a stop of her six minutes later, as she safely tackled Ellie Schad in the box to stop a breakaway attempt.
There was no Kennebunk player available to stop a goal by Caroline Swaney with 13 minutes left in the half, as she was all alone for a tap-in after Schwartzman stopped an initial shot by Schad, as two Rams defenders collided trying to stop Schad’s advance to the goal.
Hutnak scored four minutes later, as she intercepted a weak clear attempt by Kennebunk and blasted a shot into the top-right corner of the net.
Mitiguy scored her second goal of the half, and fourth for the Rangers, on a direct kick from 40 yards out that soared over the outstretched arms of Schwartzman with 1:13 to play.
“I think a lot of things happened in the first half to put us on our heels,” said Kennebunk head coach John Dolan. “A couple of really quick goals that came on the counter ”¦ that were just quality, and it speaks to the kind of team that Greely has.”
Dolan was stern with his players at halftime, trying to wake up a team he said looked “listless and lifeless” in the first half.
The play by the Rams improved in the final 40 minutes, even if the score didn’t show it. With the wind at its back, and some wind in its sail, Kennebunk was able to mount an attack, only for each attempt to be denied in some fashion.
“We did have them under a lot of pressure, we did generate a fair number of chances, and had a couple of goals that seemed that they should have been there. It only takes one to change the complexity of the game,” Dolan said of his team’s second-half effort. “We couldn’t get that breakthrough today in the second half to change the flow of the game.”
“It’s very frustrating, but I think in the same thought process, I think it pumps everyone up, because you just want one more and more. So even when you miss one, you know you were that close, and you just want to get it again,” Hoch said of not being able to finish off a goal in the second half.
A Greely attack that was slowed in the second half struck one final time with just over 10 minutes to play, as Allison Coon redirected a Schad cross from the right corner inside the right post.
The win keeps the Rangers atop the Western Class B standings, and gave them some renewed confidence after going 0-1-1 in their previous two games after a 7-0-0 start. Dolan said his team ”“ which now has been bested by Greely twice this season ”“ needs to learn how to stand tall with a reeling quality opponent.
“They’re a good team, and if we’re going to do the things that want to do, that these girls say they want to do, we’re going to have to figure out how to be that next team regardless of what the situation leading up to it was,” said Dolan.
The Rams are firmly in a playoff spot in Western Class A, but how they play in their final four games will mean the difference between a possible first-round bye or a first-round road playoff game.
“One of the big things ”¦ that I talked to the girls about is consistency. We can’t be a team that comes out and plays listless and lifeless in the first half and expect to get results. The level of competition in the Western Maine Conference is too deep, it’s too good. And it doesn’t get any easier when we get into playoffs in Western A,” said Dolan. “You have to be consistent. You have to show that effort, that work rate, that level of competition.”
Kennebunk is back in action on Saturday, as the Rams travel to Yarmouth to face another quality WMC team, and one they beat 1-0 earlier this season. Dolan said he expects a more focused and energized effort from his team than what it showed on Tuesday.
“Yarmouth should be nervous,” said Hoch.
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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