The Rams’ Elizabeth Sullivan earned the credit for Saturday afternoon, Oct. 31’s, game-winner at Scarborough, but – heartbreakingly for the Red Storm – the tally was actually an own-goal, an accidental tip-in by a defending player.

So No. 3 Gorham took the bout 2-1 in the end, jumping to 13-3 on the year and advancing to Wednesday, Nov. 4’s Regional Final vs. five-seed Marshwood (14-3). Scarborough, who entered the tournament ranked second, closed their season at 13-2-1.

“We’ve been working on our offense and shooting,” said Gorham head coach Jeanne Zarilli of the Rams’ overall attacking strategy, “because we’ve spent a lot of our season kind of passing too much, and we’ve talked about taking those opportunities when you have them.”

Ram freshman Emma Forgues broke a lengthy, nil-nil deadlock three and a half minutes into the second half, putting Gorham up 1-0 over the Storm on a beautiful shot from roughly 30 yards out-left; the ball sailed across to the opposite post of Scarborough’s net and in.

“[Forgues] played her little heart out,” said Zarilli, proud of her young athlete.

Zarilli also praised her team’s defense. “I thought our defense played phenomenally well,” she said. “We cut them off. Gaby [Panagakos, Scarborough forward] was obviously somebody we had to worry about, and I thought Cady Houghton won that game really well, the 50-50 game against Gaby.”

From there, the Rams successfully defended for 14 minutes. Scarborough Senior Mary Farnkoff, however, then put her squad on the board. In fact, Farnkoff’s shot looked startlingly similar to Forgues’s as it curled far-side past Gorham keeper Emma Smith to tie the score at 1-1.

But 38 seconds later, heavy Gorham pressure on the attack generated a scramble out front of Scarborough netminder Molly LeComte – the scramble out of which the fateful own-goal popped. Sullivan, who’d gotten the last Rams touch on the ball, received credit for the goal, and Gorham went on to win.

Zarilli acknowledged the lucky bounce that regained the lead for her Rams, but applauded them for creating the opportunity. “It was an own-goal, but it was all our pressure – we just kept pounding. Kudos to the girls. It’s unfortunate for Scarborough, but I still give our girls credit. I think we made [Scarborough’s] defense work harder than they’ve worked all season.”

Scarborough’s Emma Smith and Gorham’s Hallie Shiers go elbow-to-elbow in pursuit of a ball in the Rams’ 2-1 win over the Storm on Saturday.Gorham’s Cady Houghton vaults over Scarborough’s Gaby Panagakos in pursuit of a header. The Houghton-Panagakos 50-50 matchup was key for the Rams in their 2-1 win over the Storm.Bryce Nitchman of Scarborough and Emma Forgues of Gorham vie for a header. Forgues had the Rams’ first goal in their 2-1 win over Scarborough.