Wells sophomore Emma Badger looks to make a play during the second half of the Warriors soccer game against Old Orchard Beach. Badger scored three goals to lead Wells to a 5-2 win over the Seagulls Monday night. (SAM BONSEY/Journal Tribune)
WELLS – Stephanie Lewinski is just two games into her head coaching career with the Wells girls’ soccer team, and she’s already developed a strong relationship with her players.
Winning helps strengthen that bond, too.
Emma Badger scored all three of her goals in the opening eight minutes, and the Warriors beat the Seagulls, 5-2, in Wells on Monday.
“What I loved about this group is that we’ll give them things to work on, either during half or after games, and they work on it,” Lewinski said. “They are a very hard-working group, they all respect each other and they’re a cohesive team.”
Wells (2-0) controlled most of the offense in the first half, thanks to Badger who scored unassisted 90 seconds into the contest and then again a minute and a half later to make it 2-0.
Old Orchard (0-2) countered two minutes after on a goal from Shani Plante, but Badger found the back of the next for the third time of the half with 32:02 when she slipped past a pair of Seagull defenders inside the box and punched one in towards the left side of the goal.
Both teams tightened up their defenses for the next 20 minutes. While Old Orchard and Wells were able to muster breakaway opportunities, neither could find the back of the net. It wasn’t until with 11:20 remaining in the half when the Warriors extended its lead to 4-1 on a goal from Ava Tavares.
After sidestepping a Seagull defender, Tavares entered the left side of the box and snuck one past Old Orchard Beach goalkeeper Summer St. Louis. However, Elise McNair answered for the Seagulls with 8:49 remaining to make it 4-2 entering halftime.
“We came out slow,” Old Orchard Beach head coach Heath Floyd said. “We did that in our last game, too, and that’s something we’re working on. But the last 70 minutes of the game, I thought we played much tighter (as a group) and had better communication.”
In the second half, the Seagulls played with more urgency and turned away multiple opportunities for Wells to extend its lead thanks to freshman Summer St. Louis.
“Summer was great,” Floyd said. “She worked her butt off. She’s very athletic, she has great hands, she has great intensity, and she had three or four really good saves in the second half to keep us in it.”
The Warriors, however, were able to solve St. Louis with 13:50 left when Sarah Webb powered a shot past her to make it 5-2.
Despite coming away with a decisive victory, Lewinski thought Wells got complacent after taking a 3-0 lead. The Warriors defense allowed too many gaps, and Old Orchard was able to take advantage on a couple of occasions.
Those lapses during the game, Lewinski said, can’t happen if the Warriors hope to make a run at the playoffs.
“Our defense has to improve,” Lewinski said. “Our communication all over the field needs to get better, but I’m just glad we got the win.”
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