There already are high expectations for the 2008 Gorham girls soccer team because of what the 2007 team was able to accomplish on Nov. 7 in Windham.

The Rams rallied to win their third straight Class A state championship (their fourth straight state title overall) with a 2-1 come-from-behind win against Waterville. The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the first half only to see the Rams tie it before halftime with a goal from Rachele Burns and then win it in the second half with a score from Kristi Zarrilli.

Waterville (16-1-1) was the East’s top seed and they had reached the state final with the same record as the Rams (17-0-1). The Panthers wasted no time showing the Rams they meant business and that they weren’t intimidated by the best from the West.

“They (Waterville) pressured really hard,” said Gorham coach Jeanne Zarrilli. “They’re an excellent team. Not only did they pressure and have speed-but they were also technically very sound. They gave us all we could handle.”

That pressure was evident from the start of the game as the Panthers went up and down the field with the Rams while limiting Gorham’s offensive opportunities. Midway through the first period, Waterville sophomore Taylor Frame got the Panthers on the board when she booted in a rebound. Gorham goalkeeper Luci Pike had just punched away a shot attempt off a corner kick, but the ball found its way to Frame.

Up until that point only one long ball had reached the Gorham net. Waterville used their momentum to mount another threat with Jordan Pellerin taking a pass from Stephanie Whitten and heading it over the cross bar.

The Rams bounced back and soon had more chances of their own at the Waterville end of the field. A throw-in by Rachele Burns reached Katie Zarrilli and the senior midfielder shot it just wide of the goal. Burns spent the entire first half and most of the game trying to shake the defensive marks Waterville sent her way.

“They were really aggressive. The girl who marked me did a great job and yeah, I was a little frustrated, but we came back,” said Burns. “Once we calmed down at halftime, I think we knew what we had to do and we did it.”

“She’s marked all the time, but I think it was more physical marking than she’s used to,” said Coach Zarrilli. “At halftime she just needed to get her composure back. And she did, she played really well in the second half.”

What helped everyone on the Gorham team calm down at halftime was a goal by Burns with 3:24 left in the first period. The high-scoring junior forward took a pass from Katie Zarrilli, settled the ball, spun away from her defender and deposited the ball behind Waterville goalkeeper Taylor Hart to knot the score at 1-1.

The Rams controlled play in the second half with Burns taking a shot on goal in the opening minute and Hart being forced to make a big save on a Lindsay Wilson shot five minutes later.

“I think we just had to adjust,” Coach Zarrilli said about her squad’s strategy after the break. “We were trying to put too much down the middle and they were winning everything down the middle (in the first half). In the second half, we tried to spread the field a little bit more and really try to settle the ball and pass rather than just keep trying to rip the ball up the field.”

And the strategy worked to perfection with 23:55 left to play as Kristi Zarrilli knocked home a rebound to give the Rams their first lead of the game at 2-1. The scoring play started with a direct kick that Burns headed toward the net, but the ball deflected to Zarrilli who coolly connected with what proved to be the game-winner.

“I had it on my left foot and I saw the corners, so I lined up to put it in and I did,” Kristi Zarrilli said about the goal.

The Rams kept pressuring the Waterville defense and they continued to control play. The Panthers turned another direct kick away and a corner kick by the Rams with 13 minutes to play was stopped by the Waterville defense. A moment later, Gorham’s Kyle Perrin also sent in a long ball that Hart was forced to make a play on.

“We really decided that we wanted the game so bad and we knew that in the first half we weren’t playing as good a soccer as we could be,” said Gorham’s Katie Zarrilli. “The only reason we scored our first goal is because we started passing. And the second half was more about passing and working together as a team.”

Her sister Kristi agreed. “I think we came out with more intensity and we definitely communicated more.”

The Panthers were desperate with the time ticking off the clock. A couple late scoring attempts were turned away by the smart play of Gorham defender Aimee St. Germain and two other chances were snuffed out by the rock-solid play of goalie Luci Pike.

Gorham now has their fourth state crown in as many seasons and their unbeaten streak has reached 53 games. Coach Zarrilli admitted none of those titles stood out any more than the others. “They’re all different and they’re all nerve-wracking and you just never know what’s going to come your way,” she said.

But for her daughter – senior Katie Zarrilli – the last two championships meant more to her than her first two. “The past two years have been the most special for me because it was really a family thing – my sister was on the team and that’s like the most special thing. To take a picture with the gold ball with me and my mom and my sister is just incredible.”

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