BIDDEFORD — It’s not easy entering a tournament as the No.1 seed.

And it’s made even more difficult when your first game is against your rival.

But top-ranked Biddeford overcame nerves and familiarity to beat No. 9 Thornton Academy 2-0 Tuesday night in a Class A South field hockey quarterfinal at Waterhouse Field. The Tigers got a goal in each half, each on a penalty corner.

“It is nerve-wracking,” said Biddeford Coach Caitlin Albert of the No.1 seed. “And it’s TA-Biddeford. These girls know each other, they compete with each other in the summer, some of them are relatives.”

In the end, though, the Tigers got past the Trojans as Megan Mourmouras scored on a penalty corner with 7:27 left in the first half and Abby Allen scored off a penalty corner with 9:17 left in the game.

The Tigers (14-0-1) will play the winner of the Falmouth-Gorham game in a regional semifinal on Saturday afternoon. Thornton, which also lost 2-0 to Biddeford in the regular season, finished 9-6-1.

“I thought that was one of our better games,” said Thornton Coach Lori Smith. “Better passing than we’ve had in weeks. We certainly had some opportunities.”

And the Trojans received a tremendous game from senior goalie Jenica Botting. She made 10 saves, including several on point-blank deflections.

“She is a great goalie and played fantastic,” said Albert. “We knew going in this was a situation where we were going to have to have the perfect shot to beat her. And we had two.”

The first goal came on Biddeford’s fifth penalty corner. Paige Laverriere inserted the ball from the left of the goal to Harmonie Coolbroth at the top of the circle. She passed back to Mourmouras on the left and she whipped a low shot back into the far corner for a 1-0 lead.

“That goal got us going,” said Allen, a sophomore who was the best player on the field. “We knew we had to keep it up and it gave us more confidence.”

But the Tigers didn’t beat Botting again until Allen scored on Biddeford’s first penalty corner of the second half. Laverriere again inserted the ball from the left, this time to Allen on the left. She passed to her sister, Hailey Allen, on the right side and Hailey immediately pushed the ball back to Abby. She never hesitated and ripped a shot back into the far corner.

“That was a rocket,” said Smith. “Nothing you can do about it.”

No there wasn’t. And the Tigers survived their first challenge.

“We know everyone is going to be gunning for us,” said Abby Allen. “But we’ve just got to stick together as a team.”

Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or:

mlowe@pressherald.com

Twitter: MikeLowePPH

Copy the Story Link