
Mt. Ararat’s Emma Berry, right, and Hampden Academy’s Zoe Castrucci battle for the ball during Tuesday’s Class A North quarterfinal in Topsham. Cooper Sullivan/The Times Record
TOPSHAM — Whenever the Mt. Ararat girls soccer team concedes a goal, all 11 players on the field huddle in front of their own net to discuss what happened, regroup and figure out the next course of attack.
When Hampden Academy equalized in the 57th minute of Tuesday’s Class A North quarterfinal, Katherine Therriault went into the Eagles’ huddle with a directive.
“I’m not gonna lie, we were kind of getting a little bit angry at each other,” Therriault said. “I was just like, ‘It’s no time to get mad at each other.’ We just said, ‘We’ve got to put the game away, get the next goal.’ And we did. We just did what we had to do.”
Two minutes later, Jaelyn Jensen found Therriault in the gaps of the back line, and Therriault found the back of the net. In the 77th minute, the sophomore forward assisted on Elena Willis’ goal, which gave the Eagles a 3-1 victory over the Broncos.
Third-seeded Mt. Ararat (11-4) advances to face No. 2 Camden Hills (15-0), the top-ranked team in the Varsity Maine poll, in the A North semifinals Thursday.
Tuesday’s game was physical from start to finish, and sixth-seeded Hampden Academy (6-7-2) suffered multiple injuries that removed multiple starters for extended periods of time. Head coach Dale Overlock said “five or six” players didn’t return to the game after leaving. Both teams also drew yellow cards in the opening half.
Mt. Ararat (11-4) was able to exploit the shorthanded Broncos with constant pressure in the attacking half. With 8:00 left before halftime, the Eagles struck first, as Addison Allen scored off an assist from Willis.
“We have 10 girls on the field that want the ball at their feet, and that’s really key,” Mt. Ararat head coach Kevin Flaherty said. “We can push numbers and be comfortable in possession, and that’s really hard (to defend. It) drops a lot of people back, and they really don’t have an outlet when we keep the ball, even if we lose it.”
Madeline Hellum gave the No.6-seed a chance after knocking in a ball that was bounced around in front of the keeper, but ultimately, that would not be enough. Mt. Ararat outshot Hampden 13-1, and took five corner kicks to zero. Lauryn Smart saved 10 shots for the Broncos.
“We had our opportunities, its just a physical game,” Overlock said. “Several get injured, but they kept going. This was a big step for our program, actually. They hadn’t made the playoffs for a while, and this is a giant leap. We can compete with some of the best teams.”
Thursday’s semifinal in Rockport, slated for a 2:30 p.m. start, will be a rematch of the Windjammers’ 3-0 win over the Eagles on Sept. 27.
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