Greely girls lose a tough one to York in quarterfinals

CUMBERLAND—Greely’s girls’ soccer team knows as well as anyone how difficult it is to score on the York Wildcats, doing so just once in 180 regular season minutes, so when the fourth-ranked Rangers fell behind the fifth-ranked, visiting Wildcats by two goals at halftime of Tuesday evening’s Class B South quarterfinal, they appeared to be down for the count.

Not so fast.

After freshman Scarlett Ring and senior Ella Boissoneault scored in the first half, Greely, which made great strides this season, made things very interesting early in the second, when sophomore Molly Partridge produced an impressive strike.

But the Rangers couldn’t quite complete the comeback.

Greely never managed another great scoring chance and saw its season come to an end with a 2-1 setback.

The Wildcats improved to 7-5-4, advanced to take on top-ranked Cape Elizabeth (15-0) in Saturday’s semifinal round and in the process, ended the Rangers’ solid campaign at 8-5-2.

“We battled hard,” said Greely coach Rachel Williams. “I’m proud of the girls. I just wish we had a few more games together.”

In a fog

Greely wasn’t viewed as one of the favorites when the season began, but they held their own against just about everyone over the course of the campaign.

After opening with a 4-0 win at Poland, the Rangers lost at home to Cape Elizabeth (4-0) and after beating host Freeport (2-1), they fell at Yarmouth (3-2). Greely then ran off four straight victories, beating visiting Lake Region (3-2), host Gray-New Gloucester (4-1), visiting Sacopee Valley (6-1) and visiting Wells (4-0). After a scoreless home tie versus York, the Rangers beat host Fryeburg Academy (3-0), then lost at Cape Elizabeth by a 3-0 margin. After a 1-0 home win over Freeport, Greely fell at home to Yarmouth (2-0), then closed the regular season with a 1-1 tie at York.

The Wildcats went just 5-5-4 in the regular season, then eliminated No. 12 Morse in the preliminary round, 5-0.

Greely and York couldn’t produce a goal in 90 minutes of regulation and overtime in the first meeting, then in the second, sophomore Abby Lennox scored for the Rangers and senior captain Chloe Bourque answered for the Wildcats before the contest ended without resolution.

Entering play Tuesday, Greely held a 3-1 all-time lead over York in the playoffs. The most recent meeting went to the Wildcats, however, 4-1, in the 2018 Class B South semifinals.

While the rain held off on a 61-degree evening, the fog rolled in before kickoff and at times, it was difficult to see.

York then went out and did just enough to advance.

Greely junior Kylie Crocker boots the ball away from York senior Chloe Lahme during the Wildcats’ 2-1 victory in Tuesday’s Class B South quarterfinal. Hoffer photos.

The Rangers got the first chance, in the ninth minute, as junior Eva Williams redirected a shot by Partridge, but it was cleared at the last second by a defender.

After Boissoneault had a shot off a corner kick saved by Greely junior goalkeeper Charlotte Libby, the Wildcats went on top to stay in the 20th minute.

The goal was set up by a nice pass from sophomore Ava Fontaine and Ring collected it at the far post, where she settled the ball, then shot it past Libby with her left foot for a 1-0 lead.

The Rangers nearly answered a minute later, when freshman Avery Bush set up junior Shaylee O’Grady for a good look, but O’Grady’s shot hit the post.

York junior keeper Ella Hickey then saved a low shot from Lennox, Lennox missed just wide and after O’Grady had a shot blocked on a corner kick, a rebound shot from junior Kylie Crocker was saved by Hickey.

The Wildcats then got a break to double their lead with 3:10 remaining.

After a long ball was played into the box, it ricocheted off Libby and Boissoneault was able to pounce on it, find room to shoot, then send it into the net for a 2-0 advantage.

“We haven’t had the ball drop for us in the an opportune fashion all year, so we felt a little snake-bit, but today, we got the bounces in our favor,” said York coach Nick Hanlon.

Greely had a 4-3 edge in shots and took three corner kicks to York’s one in the first half, but found itself facing a daunting deficit.

Greely sophomore Molly Partridge gets past York senior Shea Haseltine.

The Rangers then came out strong to start the second half and got right back in the game.

With 35:20 remaining, the ball came to Partridge who had a little room to operate and she let loose from 30-yards out. Her shot soared over the hand of Hickey and into the upper right corner of the goal to make it a 2-1 contest.

Greely had momentum and despite having a lot of possession the rest of the way, in truth, good chances to pull even were hard to find.

With just over 30 minutes left, O’Grady sent a low shot on frame, but Hickey made the save.

With 24:20 remaining, O’Grady lined up a 30-yard free kick but Hickey didn’t have to move to make the stop.

With 13:45 to go, the Rangers had a corner kick and Lennox’s serve landed in the box, but was cleared.

Another corner kick with just under five minutes left didn’t result in a shot.

With 2:08 on the clock, a cross from Lennox was cleared.

The Wildcats then cleared the ball away as time wound down and were able to celebrate their 2-1 victory.

“Our girls have been working really hard this year,” Hanlon said. “I don’t think our .500 record justifies the amount of energy and time they were putting into things. It’s nice at this point of the year, on this field, to have a signature win. I’m proud of them.

“The first time we played, we withstood their pressure and got on the ball and it was a 0-0 draw. At our place, we really went at them in the first half and they went at us in the second. It’s been back-and-forth. We just match up really evenly.”

Hickey made six saves to help preserve the victory.

“Our starting center-back (Maddie Mather) came out with about 20 minutes to go, so we were in survival mode,” Hanlon said. “Chloe Bourque slid back in there and communicated really well.”

York didn’t have much luck with Cape Elizabeth in the regular season (nor did anyone else), losing 7-0 and 5-1. The Capers won two of three prior playoff meetings, including last year’s 4-1 decision.

The Wildcats will go to Hannaford Field as major underdogs Saturday, but will hope for the best.

“We just have to go there and not back down,” said Hanlon. “Our results against them haven’t been very good. We haven’t found their vulnerabilities. We can’t back down. We have to play our possession and hopefully get some set pieces. We can score on those. We look to hustle and finish.”

On to 2023

Greely finished with a 7-4 advantage, got two saves from Libby and took six corner kicks to York’s two, but came up just short.

“(York’s) tough and they’re physical and we tried to be too technical with them,” Rachel Williams lamented.

Greely graduates six seniors, including Elise Ekowicki (who was sidelined for Tuesday’s game) in goal and Allie Read, who has been an anchor in the back (Emma Bingham, Becky Carlson, Sydney Madore and Holly Moss also depart).

“We had great leadership this year,” said Rachel Williams. “I’m really glad our senior leadership could give the freshmen exposure to the playoffs. I’m proud of how respectful the girls are on the field. That’s not always the case. They’re very positive and I’m glad the underclassmen got to see that.”

The Rangers return plenty of firepower and should be primed to make an even deeper run next fall.

“We’ll miss Allie Read in the back a lot,” Williams said. “She’s a powerhouse. Beyond that, we have strength coming up to fill the spots. We have freshmen who played full games this year.

“The future’s very bright.”