HAMPDEN — Waynflete senior Isabel Canning let loose one of her cannon shots, then watched Orono keeper Katelyn Richards jump high enough to snag the ball, just under the crossbar.

“It hurts the heart a little bit,” Canning said later with a smile. Richards “had a stellar game.”

Orono held off a late Waynflete flurry and beat the Flyers 2-0 in the Class C girls’ soccer state championship game Saturday afternoon at Hampden Academy.

Orono (14-1-3) and Waynflete (11-5-2) are familiar state final opponents. The Red Riots beat Waynflete last year, too. The Flyers beat Orono in 2008 and 2013.

“They are a heck of a team,” Waynflete Coach Todd Dominski said. “That’s why they’re state champs again.”

The Red Riots controlled play in the first half and scored the only goal. Elizabeth White sent a ball past Waynflete defenders, and Rebecca Lopez-White buried a shot in the far corner with 16:33 left in the half.

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“We set the tone and finished well when we had to,” Orono Coach Cid Dyjak said.

Waynflete had few chances in the first half.

“I just think we got taken out of any rhythm because we defended so much in the first half,” Dominski said. “We never got our feet under us. That put us in a hole.”

Orono’s finishing touch continued just two minutes into the second half when White converted Brinsley Chasse’s corner kick.

That seemed to wake up the Flyers, who picked up their attack. After one corner kick, Sophi Aronson got a point-blank shot but Richards was right there for the save.

The Flyers then sent another ball into the box and Lydia Giguere would have had an open shot if she could have reached the ball first, but Richards just beat her to it.

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A collision between Richards and Waynflete’s Ava Farrar resulted in the ball slowly rolling toward the goal, but defender Brooklynne White cleared it out.

Then there was Richards’ save on Canning.

“She had some great saves,” Dyjak said. “We weathered the attack.”

Waynflete keeper Ali Pope also made some solid saves but the Flyers couldn’t score.

“The second half we started getting into the flow of things but it was a little late,” Canning said. “Obviously you’re frustrated when the game doesn’t go your way, but I’m really proud of the season.”


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