Success in soccer requires forgetting about your near-miss and making the most of your next opportunity.

Hallie Shiers of Gorham illustrated that perfectly Monday at Shea Field.

Seconds after lifting a great look over the crossbar, Shiers got the better of two defenders and scored the only goal of the Rams’ 1-0 victory at Cheverus in an early-season game between unbeatens.

Shiers’ goal, assisted by Brittney Landry, came in the 76th minute and helped Gorham improve to 4-0.

“We knew it would be a tough game,” Shiers said. “We knew how they played and we knew we had to bring our best.”

Neither team had surrendered a goal through their first three games. And in this rematch of last season’s Stags upset in the Class A South quarterfinals, there were few chances and little separation.

The teams combined for just five shots on goal in the first half. Cheverus had four consecutive corner kicks at one juncture but only managed one shot, by Emma Gallant, that was saved by Rams goalkeeper Lily Courtney.

Gorham’s best chance came in the 21st minute when Olivia Michaud’s shot from the side landed on top of the netting.

For much of the second half, neither team could get a great look, but with the rain beginning to fall and overtime looming, Gorham finally broke through to score, but not before missing a great look.

With 5:06 to go, Shiers showed off her fancy footwork, dribbling through three defenders before shooting the ball over Stags keeper Neve Cawley as well as the crossbar.

“I just leaned back a little too much,” Shiers said. “I just had to forget about it.”

Just 38 seconds later, Shiers got another chance and this time she finished.

After Landry headed the ball into the box to Cawley’s right, Shiers managed to get to the ball just as two defenders converged.

Shiers then steered the ball past Cawley, who had come off her line, and it rolled slowly into the goal, just inside the far post for a 1-0 lead.

“I missed the first one and I knew I had to get it back,” Shiers said. “(Landry) hit it over the defender. I went wide and touched it across to the far post. It slipped in just in time.”

Cheverus, which played most of the second half without Gallant, who was hampered by a head cold, pushed for the equalizer, but Julia Kratzer missed just wide, then sent a great look just high as the Rams held on.

“We really wanted to play because we both came in having not been scored on,” said Gorham Coach Jeanne Zarrilli.

“They’re a top-tier team and we wanted to see what we’d look like against a top-tier team. They gave us everything we can handle.”

The Rams had a 6-4 edge in shots and got four saves from Courtney.

The Stags (3-1) received five saves from Cawley and had a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks, but couldn’t break through.

“I told the girls we didn’t play a team ahead of us in the standings last year until late in the season, so to be able to play a team like Gorham this early will only help us,” said Cheverus Coach Craig Roberts. “We’d like the Heal points, but what we can learn from this outweighs the result. This will make us better.”

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