WINDHAM — As the defending Class A state champion, the Windham girls’ soccer team knows a slow start is no reason to panic. The Eagles play fast, but calmly. Up tempo, but in control.
So when Thornton Academy took a one-goal lead midway through the first half of their Class A South quarterfinal game Tuesday, the Eagles regrouped rather than recoil, scoring six straight goals on the way to a 6-2 win.
“I feel like we started off slow, but we used that for motivation for the rest (of the game),” said Windham senior Liz Talbot, who scored a pair of goals in the first half.
No. 3 Windham, now 13-2, will face No. 2 Gorham (15-0) in the regional semifinals. No. 6 Thornton ends the season at 9-5-1.
“We came out super flat, but when we start to connect, that’s when things start going our way. They learned to be patient, don’t panic, and work together,” said Windham Coach Deb Lebel.
Windham’s ability to transition quickly from defense to offense was a factor throughout the game. Before the Trojans could sustain an attack, they were back on their heels defending.
After a brief Windham attack early, Thornton controlled play for much of the game’s first 20 minutes, applying pressure deep in Windham’s defensive zone and generating scoring chances. Jessica Dow gave the Trojans their brief lead with 22:26 left in the first half, firing a shot into the low left corner of the net.
“Our girls really took it to them the first 20 minutes, and we had all of our opportunities in that first 20 minutes,” said Thornton Coach Natalie Sharland. “Credit to Windham. They can run for days. Their fitness is where it needs to be and they could finish. Windham’s transition was very impressive.”
Windham answered just over 2 1/2 minutes later, when Talbot was credited with a goal that went in off a Thornton defender. With 12:01 to play in the first half, Abbey Thornton’s hard shot from the right found the left corner of the net for a 2-1 Windham lead.
Talbot scored again a few minutes later, with 9:34 left in the half, to push the Eagles lead to 3-1. Unmarked, Talbot shot high to give her team a two-goal cushion heading into the second half.
Abbey Thornton’s second goal, this one with 28:12 left in the game, came off a rebound following a Windham corner kick and pushed the Eagles lead to 4-1, and she added her third goal of the game with 10:09 to play for a 5-1 lead. Kyle Harvie topped off Windham’s scoring with a goal with 7:05 remaining.
With 1:07 to play, Elle Jowett scored for the Trojans to snap Windham’s six-goal run.
“We had yet played our best game, and we were hoping today was going to be that game. For the first 20 minutes, we were. It was the best 20 minutes of soccer we’ve played all year. We just came up a little short,” Sharland said.
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