TOPSHAM — Mt. Ararat High School girls soccer coach Chad Kirk has run his Eagles through countless shooting drills this season. The results, so far, have been sporadic, with his team often possessing the ball for long periods of time without finding the back of the net.

On Wednesday in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference clash with Morse at Riverside Field, the Eagles played the part for more than 60 minutes, out-possessing and shooting the Shipbuilders to no avail.

However, that timeless shooting work finally paid off, as Eliza Libby and Reese Turcotte scored four minutes apart to lift Mt. Ararat to a 2-0 victory and a 5-5 record with four games remaining in the regular season.

“There is only so much that you can practice shooting. We are always shooting,” said Kirk, whose Eagles will host Lewiston on Friday at 3:30 p.m. “We just have to keep working. We are happy to be 5-5 and we are improving every day.”

For first-year Morse coach Branden Noltkamper, his 4-5-2 Shipbuilders battled hard, with goaltender Abby Sreden making 11 saves after his Shipbuilders were outshot by a 13-4 count.

“Chad has a really good group of girls over there, a team that is organized,” said Noltkamper, whose Shipbuilders host Maranacook on Tuesday at 5 p.m. “I thought we were organized, just Chad’s group believes in what he is saying and stuck to their gameplan.”

So close

Mt. Ararat pinned Morse into its defensive zone in the first half. Led by the play of Ema Hawks, Amber Card, Libby, Cora Spelke, Jessica Cloutier and Kyla Greenleaf, the Eagles fired the game’s first seven shots but failed to dent the scoreboard.

Morse defenders Meghan Clifford, Paige Faulkingham and Mae Winglass did a solid job of keeping the Eagles from getting close to Sreden’s goal, routinely pushing the ball toward the sideline.

“We wanted to sit in and draw them, then attack the space behind them,” said Noltkamper.

Morse midfielder Emily Martin broke free for an attempt that rolled inches wide. Moments later, her shot was easily stopped by Mt. Ararat keeper Abby Sirois, who had four saves.

Despite an 8-2 shot advantage, Mt. Ararat went to the intermission locked in a scoreless battle.

The second half began in similar fashion as the first, with the Eagles pressuring the Morse defense. Turcotte just missed on a rising shot, and pair of corner kicks served by Spelke were cleared by the Shipbuilder defense.

“We talked at halftime about the team that scores first will probably win the game,” said Noltkamper, who watched as Mt. Ararat took advantage of some rare open space.

Spelke sent a long pass from midfield into the Morse end, with Libby never slowing her stride. She out-raced the Morse

defense to the ball and chipped a shot past a charging Sreden for a 1-0 Mt. Ararat lead with 18:07 remaining.

At 14:32, Turcotte doubled the lead on a similar play, taking a lead pass from Cloutier before finishing for a 2-0 Eagle advantage.

“We just wanted to keep getting the ball in toward the net and keep pressuring, which led to Reese’s goal,” said Libby. “We didn’t give up. We used the middle well and made some good passes today. We need to keep our pressure up and just keep it up like today.”

Rosa Atienza’s free kick try from 25-yards out was Morse’s best chance in the closing minutes, with Sirois pulling the ball into her stomach.

Both coaches discussed what they need to do better as the regular season winds down, with Mt. Ararat facing four more contests. Morse has three games remaining.

“We have to take care of business. We just need to finish to challenge those top teams once we get into the playoffs,” said Kirk.

“Right now, we are still so young from an experience standpoint,” Noltkamper said. “It is the speed of play and finding those overloads. We don’t see teams that are as physical as Mt. Ararat. We will need to transition quicker and defend quicker.”

Mt. Ararat finished with a 10-1 edge in corner kicks.

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