BATH – Back in early September, when Gorham lost their girls soccer season opener to Scarborough, it looked as though the transition to Class A might be a bumpy ride for last year’s Class B state champs.
From that moment on, however, the squad didn’t lose another game, reeling off 16 wins in a row, culminating in Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Bangor in the state title game at McMann Field in Bath.
“We knew it would be a lot different (in Class A),” said junior Nicole Robitaille, “but we knew that we could do it if we kept playing how we play.”
With hustle and determination, Gorham (16-1) limited their opponents’ scoring opportunities while keeping the eastern Maine champs on the defensive. Then, when Bangor (15-3) made a desperate effort to tie the contest in the final minutes, Gorham’s defense held strong.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking at the end,” said Gorham goalkeeper Luci Pike, “but our defense pulled through.”
Aimee St. Germain, Caitlyn Caldwell, Alison Feibel and Caitlyn Butterfield repeatedly turned back Bangor attacks, limiting the number of shots on their keeper. Pike took care of the rest.
Meanwhile, forward Rachele Burns relentlessly hunted down the ball, doing her best to get it to Kelsey Wilson, her prolific-scoring teammate. Late in the first half the duo connected for the game’s only goal.
“I had a good feeling about this year,” Burns said. “It’s fun to play with these upperclassmen.”
In the contest’s opening 10 minutes, both sides seemed to be checking each other out and getting past any initial nervousness.
Once loosened up, Wilson began testing the Bangor defense. Every few minutes she seemed to challenge her opponents: a quick rush that was broken up by the sweeper in the 12th minute; not long after that Bangor keeper Ilyse Angst saved a Wilson direct kick; and moments later a try from 25 yards out was just high.
Burns, who was sidelined in the middle of the first half with a bloody nose, returned with a dozen minutes on the clock and, shortly thereafter, she took an inbounds pass from Jacqui Lara and spotted Wilson in front of the net.
“Rachele crossed it and I just took a touch,” Wilson said. “There wasn’t much space, but I hit it and it went in.”
The goal, with 8:26 left before intermission, seemed to fire up both sides, one trying hard to defend its lead and the other attempting to get onto the scoreboard.
Bangor forward Serena Dubois kept pushing the ball up the field, forcing Pike to come out to knock away a scoring chance at 2:10 and to make another stop a minute later.
Dubois’ teammate, Jessie Roberts, picked up the torch for her squad in the second half, repeatedly creating offense for Bangor. In the sixth minute she even attempted an overhead bicycle kick that went over her opponents’ goal.
In the middle of the period, Wilson just missed a chance to give her team some breathing room when she hit the post to her right, past a diving Angst. Gorham was going to have to win this one the hard way, beating back every last Bangor attempt until time expired.
Burns, Butterfield, Robitaille and their teammates chased down every loose ball and confronted every opposing charge.
“We put a lot of pressure on them in the last 10 or 15 minutes,” said Bangor coach Larry Smith. “We had two or three great opportunities, but just missed by inches.”
One of those chances came with 7:44 to go, when a Roberts kick rolled just wide of the left post. With three minutes left, Pike came out of her goal, but the ball got by her.
“It deflected off someone on our team,” the sophomore keeper said. “I almost had a heart attack.”
For a dangerous two seconds the ball rolled slowly just five yards in front of the empty net, but Gorham was able to clear it away before Bangor could get there, and they continued to hold off the final flurry to preserve the win.
“Boy, it was scary the last 10 or 15 minutes,” said Gorham coach Jeanne Zarrilli. “They really put the pressure on.”
The coach had expected more of a finesse game, but her team responded to Bangor’s style of play.
“I thought they were tougher physically than I expected,” Zarrilli said. “It was more of a physical, up- the-middle, bang-the-ball-forward game than I expected. I expected a little more pass-and-play.”
Smith said his team had played some physical opponents to get to the final, but he felt that Gorham’s skill was the key factor.
“This team had some very talented players who possess the ball nicely and took us a little bit out of our game,” he said.
Dubois said that she enjoyed playing against “a great team” like Gorham.
“I’d rather lose a close game and know that we worked really hard,” the senior said. “It could have come out either way.”
Gorham did not allow a goal in the post-season and let up just a dozen all year, while Wilson and Burns scored more than 50 between them.
“It’s an amazing feeling just to be a state champ, never mind two different classes,” said Wilson. “That’s something really hard to do, and we should be proud of our accomplishment.”
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