Brunswick’s Emily Larochelle (2) beats Camden Hills’ Mary Kate Pons to the ball during the first half of a KVAC girls soccer clash. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
Rockport – The top two teams in Class A North girls high school soccer squared off on Tuesday. Both Camden Hills and Brunswick boasted 10-win seasons against no defeats coming into the contest.
After 80 minutes of soccer on the pitch, two-time defending Class A State champion Camden Hills came away with a 6-0 victory over Brunswick.
The win assures the Windjamers (11-0) will be seeded No. 1 in the upcoming Class A North playoffs. The Dragons fell to 10-1-1 and currently have a strong hold on the second spot with two games remaining.
Senior Eliza Roy netted three goals and an assist to pace the home team. Kaylyn Krul notched a pair of goals and an assist, while junior forward Kristina Kelly tallied her 100th career goal.
“We have a luxury of girls that don’t tire, they just go, go, and go,” Camden Hills coach Meredith Messer said. “They are persistent and they don’t care who scores. It feels really nice to know that one person doesn’t have to do it for you always. It could be anybody’s day and they’re more than willing to step up and take the risks.”
While the two Kennebec Valley Athletic conference foes felt each other out over the first 10 minutes, Camden Hills struck in the 12th minute as Roy received a pass from Krul for the game’s first score.
“We knew they were a very good team and we had to get that first goal,” Brunswick coach Martyn Davison. “We conceded a poor goal defensively to start, and with a team like this, you can’t fall behind because it can turn into two, three or four goals quickly.”
Quickly it did, as Krul scored the next two goals five minutes apart, including a tally off a direct kick just outside of the box that slipped past Brunswick keeper Aisley Snell.
The first half ended with the 3-0 score. Camden Hills put eight shots on net the first 40 minutes, while Brunswick only managed one.
Camden Hills’ Tessa Whitley (23) and Brunswick’s Charlotte MacMillan both battle for a loose ball in girls soccer action on Tuesday.
“I think if we would have scored quickly, we could hang with them,” Davison said. “Although I thought we had some chances as we had opportunities in the first 20 minutes with Charlotte (MacMillan) or Bailey (Hartill) getting through, we just couldn’t get one to fall. The girls stuck in there and battled today and I’m proud of them.”
Davison made a switch in goal after the break, replacing Snell with Beth Labbe, something he has done with the pair of talented keepers all season.
“They’re both very good keepers so I’ve split games with them all year,” Davison added. “I’ve also done some halves like today.”
Labbe made her presence immediately known. The senior turned away the first five shots she faced in the first 25 minutes of the half.
But the Windjammers found the back of the net once again. A little over midway through the half, Roy struck again after Labbe charged out of the net to pursue a pass from Eve Gutheinz, only to have Roy beat her to it, tapping it past the keeper and rolling it in for the score.
“We definitely have worked really hard this year about keeping our shape, we sometimes tend to attack too high,” Messer said. “We did a nice job with that today I thought, especially in the second half giving some depth to ourselves and some back passing options. It gave us a little bit more of a way to spread ourselves out and get some gaps.”
Brunswick’s Izzy Banks (10) prepares to receive a pass off a direct kick as Camden Hills’ Sarah Spizzuouco pursues. (Eric Maxim / The Times Record)
Roy competed her hat trick a few minutes later when Kelly set her up for the score. Thirty-one seconds later, Kelly notched her 100th career goal to round out the scoring. The Windjammers outshot Brunswick, 19-4 in the contest.
“I’m surprised (of the final score), but at the same time we earned it,” Roy said. “I think we gave everything we had. We came out and played our hardest as we expected it to be a good game.”
“They’re very good with their passing and they are our toughest competition thus far,” Brunswick senior defender Mikaela Aschbrenner said. “We’ll take from this and learn on how we can better our passes and improve our game.”
Brunswick travels to Lewiston to take on the Blue Devils at 10:30 a.m. before closing out the regular season at home against Mt. Ararat on Monday (6 p.m.). Camden Hills hosts Medomak Valley on Thursday (3:30 p.m.) and finishes the season on the road at Skowhegan on Monday, also at 3:30 p.m.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
