AUBURN

Only one win separated the Mt. Ararat girls soccer team (10-5-2) from a trip to the Class A State Championship.

The path it paved to get to the Regional finals on Wednesday was one made for the movie screen, coming in at No. 5 in the Heal Point Standings and pushing through No 4-ranked Hampden Academy, 2-1, and then stunning the unbeaten No. 1 Bangor Rams 5- 0 to get to the Eastern Class A finals.

Though all it took was one penalty kick for the No. 2 Edward Little Red Eddies (13-1-3) to change the flow of the game as the Eagles were edged 3-2 in overtime in what was a playoff atmosphere made for the ages.

“Any team on any day can beat anybody,” Edward Little coach Craig Latuscha said after the game. “It doesn’t matter how hot or cold you are, if you show up to play you get one chance to beat them.”

That one chance started with 4:54 remaining in regulation when a foul was called in the Eagles box, giving the Red Eddies a chance to tie the game after trailing 2-1. Senior Calli Murray was given the signal to take the shot and before anyone had the chance to blink the ball was in the back of the net and a whole new soccer game was unveiled.

“I think that took the wind out of our sails,” Mt. Ararat head coach Sam Chard said about the penalty kick. “You have five minutes left in the game to win the Eastern Regional title and they got a PK out of it and it dampened us, and in the overtime I think Edward Little came out stronger.”

Prior to the game changing moment it seemed as if the Eagles were going to come out victorious, as they held the flow of the game in their hands. In the first half, Mt. Ararat hit the scoreboard first as Torri Pelletier chased down a deflected ball 25-yards out and past the defense, firing a rocket to the top-left shelf for a 1-0 Eagles advantage.

Five minutes later the Red Eddies responded with a goal of their own when they received a free kick on the 18-yard line. Sarah Hammond set up for the shot, but opted to pass around the Eagles defensive wall. After an initial shot was blasted off Mt. Ararat goalkeeper Lauren Williams, Francesca-Beth Haines tucked it into the right-corner pocket for the equalizer.

Pelletier again

Pelletier continued her threat up front, giving the Eagles the lead with 27:11 remaining in regulation. With a ball cleared up field, Pelletier chased it down, moving through the defense and putting her one-onone with Edward Little goalie Molly Murray. at point-blank range Pelletier launched it into the left side with no chance of a save.

“(Pelletier) is very dangerous,” Latuscha said of the Eagles for- ward, “She’s one of the best players they have and she ultimately controlled the entire game until she started getting tired at the end. She could have won that game for them by herself, she’s that good.”

Edward Little had a shot to tie it before the PK with 7: 10 remaining when a free-kick was awarded just beyond the 18- yard line. With a ball floating in the cluster inside the box, a header on net ricocheted off the goal post and out of play, keeping the Eagles up by one.

After Calli Murray’s game-changing penalty kick knotted the score at two, the game was sent into overtime and it was clear the momentum shifted toward the Red Eddies as it took only four minutes to score the winner, this time coming off the foot of Olivia Paione.

“Having to battle back is something my girls haven’t been used to this year,” Latuscha said. “Usually they’ve been playing with the lead and (the other team) scores and we score again. I’m proud of them, we have a very young team still and for them to get all this way this year is a significant accomplishment.”

“We weren’t exactly on top of our game today,” Chard said. “We were a little bit behind on the ball and the field is a little slippery. Those things happen and it’s part of the game and (Edward Little) clearly wanted it so they came out and they came out hard.”

With the victory the Red Eddies move on to the State Championship game, playing the Western champion of Windham High School, which defeated Scarborough, 2-1 on Wednesday. The match will be held at Hampden Academy in Hampden at 5:30 p.m.

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