TOPSHAM — These are the biggest moments of her high school career, and Addie Watson has done nothing but deliver.
The Maranacook senior striker recorded two goals for the second time in as many games, leading the second-seeded Black Bears to a 2-0 win over No. 5 Waynflete in the Class C South girls’ soccer final Wednesday night.
It’s the second straight regional title for Maranacook (16-0-1), and third since 2018.
The Black Bears will play Bucksport in the state final Saturday in Hampden.
After a two-goal performance in the semifinals Saturday against Old Orchard Beach, Watson opened the scoring in the seventh minute and finished off the Flyers (12-5) in the 79th minute. In between, she provided all the pace and energy Maranacook needed to constantly threaten on the counterattack.
“She got us going,” Maranacook Coach Travis Magnusson said. “She had great pace all night. She deserved those, she really worked hard for them. She’s a special player. She’s had four goals in this run – against the two toughest teams we’ve played – so she’s making it happen, for sure.”
It was another gritty, hard-fought affair for the Black Bears. After breezing through an unbeaten regular season and a lopsided drubbing of Mountain Valley in the quarterfinals, the reigning state champions have faced their stiffest challenges since last autumn’s postseason.
“Our defense works amazing together,” said Maranacook senior back Alissa Michaud, who was tasked with 80 minutes of marking Waynflete’s Lucy Hart, even after Hart tried dropping deeper into the midfield to get away from Michaud late in the second half. “We have to communicate a lot, stay on our marks and just prevent the ball from getting by us.
“We’ve worked really hard to get where we are, and it definitely showed tonight.”
The work of Michaud, as well as Sophia Tweedie and Gracie Farrell providing the spine of the Black Bears’ back four, was the perfect complement to the work of Watson and Natalie Mohlar at the opposite end of the pitch.
It took nearly a full hour of play before the Flyers generated their first shot on target. Only one of Waynflete’s on-goal attempts came during the run of play, with the rest coming from free kicks at distance.
“The goal scorers get all of the attention, but defensively is where we hold ourselves,” Magnusson said. “Our defense was unbelievable tonight.”
Paired with Mohlar atop a 4-4-2 instead of Maranacook’s usual 4-3-3, Watson provided plenty of punch.
Mohlar sent Watson through to open the scoring with a 1-on-1 finish against keeper Ayla Stutzman (10 saves). Then, both Mohlar (18th minute) and Watson (27th minute) hit the woodwork.
Watson threatened for a second goal in the 70th minute, but she was brought down from behind by Izzy Gleason. Gleason was issued a questionable red card, and Waynflete played with 10 the rest of the way.
“Honestly, I thought it was about more than the soccer game,” Watson said. “I think the way we kept our heads in the game is what won it for us. There were a lot of times people could have fallen into that and taken us out of it, but we’re really mentally strong and that’s what pulled us ahead. We were able to stay with it.”
Still, the Flyers generated a pair of corner kicks and a good look from Hart inside the 18-yard box before Farrell booted a poor corner kick clearance to the far post for Watson to knock past Stutzman and finish off into an empty goal.
“There’s definitely some relief,” Watson said. “(Waynflete) got a couple of good looks, they’re a really good team. When we got that second one, it was our time to know that we’re going to states again.”
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