KENNEBUNK — The Scarborough girls soccer team shut out host Kennebunk 6-0 on Wednesday to improve to 4-0 on the year.

The Rams came out strong in the opening minutes, pressing the Scarborough defense and forcing opportunities early. Things would change just over six minutes into the game when Haley Koukos netted a score on the Red Storm’s first opportunity to give Scarborough the lead, as well as the momentum.

The Red Storm immediately took control of the game, and set the pace offensively for the remainder of the half. Lauren Sabatino added two more goals for Scarborough, both in the left corner of the goal and each from distance to extend the lead to 3-0 by the halftime break.

“It was huge — the first goal was huge and it came on a corner. It went in on our first opportunity and then about (11) minutes later we got another one and that changes the momentum of the game. It wasn’t anything that (Kennebunk) did wrong, our players just did a good job of scoring those goals and that is deflating,” said Scarborough coach Mike Farley.

Scarborough didn’t slow down, and got its fourth goal just over three minutes into the second from Gaby Panagakos. The Red Storm would add two more goals in the final 12 minutes, one from Ashley Sabatino and another from Sierra Duggan, to set the score to 6-0 and secure the win.

“(Momentum) was huge. Unfortunately we came out and didn’t have the urgency, we didn’t play with heart tonight,” said Kennebunk coach Shannon Cavanaugh. “It was disappointing because this group has a ton of heart and we just showed it in the Gorham game. It was a tale of two teams — we just didn’t show up today.”

Along with sharp offense, Scarborough also used a solid performance from veteran goalie Emily Royce to stifle the Rams attack. Royce came up with the timely saves, and also played a major role in clearing out the zone quickly and efficiently.

“A few of them were tough, and not only did (Royce) get the save but she didn’t give up the rebound. That’s big because there were those players coming in the box that could’ve finished the goal and we may have been in trouble. She did a great job, she always does a great job,” said Farley.

Farley also felt that Wednesday’s shutout was Scarborough’s best performance to date, and hopes the Red Storm will continue to pick up steam.

“It’s great. It’s good for us to come out and play a complete game really well. I thought we played well defensively from start to finish, then offensively as the second half came on we made a difference in the game,” said Farley. “I think we just need to play a consistent 80 minutes, that was about the best we’ve played so far so if we can just play a consistent 80 minutes like that then we’ll be in great shape.”

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at asponseller@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.

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