FALMOUTH — The Gorham and Falmouth girls’ soccer teams played as if there was no steady rain, as if conditions were perfect. Eighty minutes resolved nothing, nor did two 15 minute overtimes. Two strong defensive teams, allowing no goals.
It wasn’t until Gorham’s Libby Frey fired a low shot into the left corner of the net to end penalty kicks that this stalemate concluded. Frey’s goal gave the Rams a 4-3 win in the shootout and lifted them to the Class A South semifinal win, and now No. 3 Gorham (13-1-3) will face No. 1 Windham on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Thornton Academy in Saco for the regional title. No. 2 Falmouth ends the season at 15-2-1.
“We practice it over and over, and I had to put it in for my team to win. I pretty much always go for the left bottom corner, so that’s where I put it,” said Frey, a senior.
Gorham and Falmouth played to a scoreless draw in the regular season, on Sept. 9, and played 200 minutes of soccer against each other this season without either team scoring a goal.
“Two really evenly matched teams,” said Falmouth Coach Andrew Pelletier. “I couldn’t have asked for more. If you had told me we would go two games without conceding a goal to Gorham, I would’ve said no chance.”
Gorham suffered a blow with 13:40 left in the second 15 minute overtime, when starting goalie Rachel Gross was injured in a collision. Katie Martin went into net for the Rams, making one save late in overtime, and another on a Gwen Long shot during penalty kicks, setting up Frey’s game-winner.
“(Martin) is such a fabulous kid and teammate. And she does have composure,” Gorham Coach Jeanne Zarrilli said.
Throughout regulation and the overtimes, Gorham controlled much of the play, but was unable to slip a shot past Falmouth keeper Jordan Wolf.
“They defend really well, and obviously they have a phenomenal goalie,” Zarrilli said. “I thought first half, they had more of the play, but second half we got that back and we had some chances.”
Played on Falmouth’s artificial turf, the game never became sloppy due to the rain. Zarrilli said she never heard anyone on her team complain.
“I think our team is pretty tough, so we can play in any weather,” Frey said.
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