SANFORD – The day after the South Portland football team upset Sanford, the Red Riots handed the Redskins yet another stunner, this time in girls soccer. The Riots were 1-2 heading into the contest with then-undefeated 4-0 Sanford on Saturday, but eagerly matched the home team shot for shot. The Riots took a 4-3 lead midway through the second, but a goal by Sanford senior captain Katelyn Fink with 10:18 to go tied things at 4-4 and forced overtime.

In the resulting extra play, Sanford dominated, but a collision in front of the Redskins’ net with just 6.9 seconds left precipitated a penalty kick, and Riots’ senior midfielder Emily Masters lined up to take the shot. Masters went low and to the left with her kick, beating diving Sanford goalie Kellie Tovey for the 5-4 victory.

“I knew we had to win, and I knew that this would be the opportunity,” Masters said. “And I knew that if we won this game, we would be 2-2 going forward into the season. I was planning on going low with the shot all along, and I felt like their goalie was favoring one side, so I went the other way with my shot.”

Not everyone was wild about the call, which was made when a South Portland player appeared to stumble and fall just as Tovey was making a play on the ball.

“You know, those are tough at the end,” said Sanford Assistant Coach Sue Matthews, who took over at the helm after Head Coach Kendra Brown left in the second half. “No one likes to see that kind of a call like that, or win the game on a call like that. But, you know, that’s the call, and I am sure if it had been the other way, we would have been the same way. But one way of looking at it is that we probably shouldn’t have put ourselves in that position.”

The Redskins got into that position by playing catch up for most of the game. Just three minutes in, South Portland’s Jenacee Bradbury booted a goal for a 1-0 advantage, and although Sanford tied it seven minutes later on a rebounding shot by Fink, the Riots regained the lead with 14:26 to go on a right side kick from Ericka Lightner.

“I think we weren’t playing our game,” Matthews said. “We weren’t passing to the feet, and we were just playing too quickly. I think they were panicking at the beginning. (At the half) we told them not to panic, and to start playing their game.”

A goal by Sanford’s Abbi White on a direct kick with 10:03 to go tied things at 2-2.

“We have talked about being opportunistic,” said South Portland Head Coach Andy Pappas. “We have played in many games where we have dominated and not gotten a goal out of it. So for us to capitalize early was big for us.”

The Riots again took the lead early in the second half on corner kick, as Bradbury nailed her second off a rebound. That lead held for barely a minute and a half, though, as Sanford’s Hannah Kallis answered on a shot from the right side with 30:28 remaining to make it 3-3. South Portland yet again leapt forward on a corner goal scored by Masters with 23:01 left, but 13 minutes later let up on Fink’s tying shot to necessitate OT.

“Emily is our leader,” Pappas said. “She is absolutely our No. 1 leader. She is an amazing talent, on both offensive and defense. Anything I ask her to do, she does it. She is just a great player. On penalty kicks, we haven’t gotten many chances to work on that (in practice). But I knew Emily was capable, so that’s why she took it.”

For her own part, Masters just seemed to be happy that it was all over following the penalty kick. “After I hit it, I felt a lot of relief,” she said. “I knew that I had to win it for the team.”