LISBON FALLS

The corner kick in soccer, if used correctly, is a weapon, a free chance at controlling where the ball goes and what an offense is able to do.

The Lisbon High School girls soccer team used the corner kick to near perfection on Wednesday, scoring a pair of first-half goals en route to a 3-1 Mountain Valley Conference victory over Mt. Abram.

The win gives the Greyhounds four in a row for a 4-2 record, while the Roadrunners dipped to 4-3.

“I had a couple of them that bounced right in there and went in,” said Lisbon midfielder Paige Galligan, who assisted on Lisbon’s first corner kick goal and was credited with a goal when her service into the box went off the back of a Roadrunners defender and past Mt. Abram goaltender Allison Lopez.

“The kicks were good, and it was great to see the ball go into the goal. We are coming more together as a team, with the passing and talking, and I hope the rest of the season goes in a positive upward fashion.”

“Traditionally, we don’t score a lot of goals on restart plays, but today we were fortunate that they were having trouble clearing it and we were able to get a couple in,” said Lisbon coach Jake Gentle, whose Greyhounds visit Spruce Mountain on Friday. “Sometimes you put it in the box, good things happen.”

Galligan’s goal came two minutes after Mt. Abram’s Elise Luce tied the game on a long blast underneath the crossbar.

“We feel if we can respond, whether we score a goal or they score a goal, it will help us out,” said Gentle, who praised his team’s passing. “We switched up our formation, and I think it will help us with the personnel that we have, relying on everyone as a group. The passing has gotten better.”

Lisbon leads

Both teams had chances to score in the early going. Game-long standout Deliah Schrieber of Lisbon knifed her way through Mt. Abram defenders and fired two shots on Lopez, and Lisbon goaltender Ally Sult (five saves) was tested by Roadrunners midfielder Emma Houston.

Lisbon lined up for its third corner kick, and Galligan’s arching shot bounced off the hands of Lopez and to the feet of Kailyn Hill, who ripped a shot into the open cage 8:06 into the game.

Mt. Abram answered on Luce’s goal at 25:34 of the opening half, but Lisbon, which held a 6-1 corner-kick edge in the first half (8-3 in the game), lined up again for a corner kick.

Galligan sent a pass toward the Mt. Abram goal, with the ball bouncing around before crossing the goal line off a defender’s body for a 2-1 Greyhounds lead.

Lisbon held a 12-5 shots advantage in the opening frame, with Lopez turning aside six chances.

Mt. Abram had the early second-half pressure, with Katie Jordan firing a shot inches wide and Luce watching her try from 25-yards out settle into the arms of Sult.

The Roadrunners didn’t threaten the rest of the way, especially after Jenna Clifford tipped a pass from teammate Renae Samay-Houle into the net with 27:17 left for a two-goal lead.

“It was extremely important to get a two-goal lead, and when you get into those last 20 minutes of a game, a two-goal lead allows you to switch things up and get the ball outside a little bit better,” said Gentle, who watched defenders Shantal MacWhinnie, Drew Stewart-Staples, Loren Grant and Abby Gamache frustrate the Roadrunners. Lisbon midfielders Galligan, Clifford, Olivia Bulgin, Hill and Schrieber helped cut the field in half.

“We had some of our midfielders key back, just to keep the focus on defense,” said Galligan.

Lisbon held a 24-8 shots advantage. Lopez had 14 saves for Mt. Abram, including two breakaway stops on Schrieber.

Lisbon 3, Mt. Abram 1

At Lisbon Falls
Mt. Abram — 1 0 — 1
Lisbon — 2 1 — 3
Goals — (MA) Elise Luce; (L) Kailyn Hill,
Paige Galligan, Jenna Clifford.
Assists — (L) Paige Galligan, Renae Samay-
Houle.
Shots — Lisbon 24, Mt. Abram 8.
Saves — (MA) Allison Lopez 14; (L) Ally Sult
5.
Corner kicks — Lisbon 8, Mt. Abram 3.
Records — Lisbon 4-2, Mt. Abram 4-3.
Up next for Lisbon — Friday at Spruce
Mountain.