OOB scores 2 late goals to beat Wells

OLD ORCHARD BEACH — It looked like a long season had taken its toll on the Old Orchard Beach girls soccer team, as they trailed Wells late in a game in which they had only one player on the bench. But the Seagulls fought on, scoring two goals in the last seven minutes to rally past the Warriors 3-2 Tuesday afternoon.

Amy Twohig scored less than five minutes into the game for the Seagulls, converting a penalty kick after a hand-ball in the box on Wells.

The one-goal deficit seemed to energize a Wells team that came into the game with just one win. Stephanie Woods scored 15 minutes into the half to tie the game at 1-1. Woods pushed a shot in from the left side of the box that trickled past some disoriented defenders.

Sophie Lamb then scored 10 minutes later to give the Warriors the lead. Lamb took control of the ball just across midfield, and took it deep into the left corner, where she punched a shot past Old Orchard Beach goalie Jaclyn MacDonald.

Lamb had a few more opportunities throughout the game, as she routinely beat Seagull defenders that were slow to react, and without the benefit of catching their breath on the bench.

Twohig nearly tied the game a couple of times in the second half. She had a shot that was deflected out of bounds, and later had a free kick from 25 yards out that glanced off the gloves of Wells goalie Kaitlyn Tufts, then off the crossbar, before straddling the end line and getting cleared away.

Abby Dubois also had a shot bounce off the corner of the goal, but she converted when getting a second chance. Dubois took possession of the ball just outside the 18, and created space on the right side before slicing a shot low past Tufts with seven minutes to go.

Re-energized by the tying goal, the Seagulls became the aggressors in the late stages of the game. It paid off with two minutes to go, when Twohig sent a corner kick into the box, and after it bounced around quite a bit, Kaycee Slick pushed a shot past Tufts for the winning goal.

“The last 20 minutes, I thought we put a lot of pressure on. We got some of the bounces we needed to tie it. Then, the last seven minutes, I think we definitely controlled the game to get the” winning goal, said Old Orchard Beach head coach Heath Floyd.

Conversely, it was a tough pill to swallow for Wells, which looked like it had a beaten and battered OOB team right where they wanted them. They just couldn’t close the deal, Wells coach Pierce Cole said.

“It’s very difficult. We’ve been just this close so many times,” Cole said. “We have to finish these games in a better fashion. I don’t think we stopped playing hard. I just think that we didn’t do the things we needed to do to get a win today.”

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