It may not have been the prettiest goal, but it was enough to lift No. 1 Gorham over No. 8 Windham in Wednesday’s Western Maine Class A quarterfinal girls soccer contest.
With 14:50 remaining in the game, Gorham freshman Ally Lurvey put a rebound past the dive of Windham goalkeeper Riley Graves for the game’s lone score as the Rams (15-0) extended their unbeaten streak to 68 games with a 1-0 home win, advancing to the semifinals against either No. 4 York or No. 12 Cape Elizabeth, who were scheduled to play on Thursday.
Lurvey’s goal came after Graves made an initial save on a shot by Kristi Zarrilli, but in doing so collided with teammate Helen Libby. Both players fell to the ground. Graves was able to recover in time to get a hand on Lurvey’s putback, but the referee on the goal line determined the ball broke the plane.
“It hurts, but I also like that the only way Gorham could score was on a scrum goal in front of our net,” said Windham coach Wally LeBlanc, whose team finished the year at 9-6-1. “Obviously, we want that goal back, but if that’s the best way they can score against us, I’m really pleased with my team and how hard they played.”
Libby remained down for about 15 minutes after the collision and was wheeled off the field by paramedics and taken away in an ambulance. LeBlanc said she had a serious concussion.
“She’s had a prior concussion and we wanted to send her to the hospital just to make sure that she’d be safe,” LeBlanc said. He lauded her effort on the field. “She earned a start today. She hadn’t started a lot for us this year, and here she is starting in the Gorham game. It’s a credit to the grit and the player that she is. She gave it her all out there.”
It was a cold and windy afternoon at Gorham High School, where the Rams had the wind at their backs for the first half.
“I was worried about the wind,” said Gorham coach Jeanne Zarrilli. “We wanted to try to score in the first half with the wind behind us.”
While Gorham had the better chances early on – Lindsay Wilson and Rachele Burns both had solid bids turned away – the Rams could not put one past Graves (eight saves) as the first half ended knotted at nil.
“Kudos to their goalie,” Jeanne Zarrilli said. “I think she is one of the best goalies in the state. She came up with some saves that were just phenomenal. And we knew that coming in. We wanted to try to win it in regulation – that was our goal so that we didn’t go to (penalty kicks). We knew we were up against a force.”
Credit also goes to the Eagles defense, which kept Gorham from getting many uncontested looks despite the Rams having a significant advantage in possession.
“We just tried to man mark,” LeBlanc said. “We gave people some tasks. We said, ‘This is your girl, you need to shut her down.’ And they rose to that occasion.”
Gorham scored four or more goals in 11 of its 14 regular-season games. But the Rams needed overtime to eke out a 1-0 win over Windham when the teams met in September.
“They’re a tough matchup for us because they play hard, physical soccer,” Jeanne Zarrilli said. “We play a different brand of soccer.”
After Gorham took the lead, Windham had a pair of good opportunities for the equalizer. With 13:42 to go, Sam Levine settled a ball in the box, turned and fired a shot on net, but Gorham goalkeeper Nicole Belhumeur (four saves) was there for the stop. Three minutes later, Jen Levine sent a throughball into the box, but Belhumeur was there to corral it.
Gorham was without Burns for 10 minutes early in the second half after she was given a yellow card following a hard collision with Graves while in pursuit of a loose ball.
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