Brewer knocks off Old Town> Trott, Everett key win

BREWER – Heidi Everett, the goalkeeper for the Brewer girls soccer team, snuck a yawn waiting for the start of the second half of Tuesday’s game against Old Town at Pendleton Street Field.

But it didn’t take long for Witch striker Leslie Trott to score in a 1-0 Brewer upset of Old Town, breaking the monotony of the game that went scoreless deep into the second half.

Brewer is now 4-8-1 while Old Town’s record now stands at 6-6-1.

The Indians are battling for a playoff spot, as they were ranked ninth in the most recent Heal point standings in Eastern Maine Class B.

Trott’s goal – Brewer’s first in three games – came with 17:38 left in the game when she took a pass from midfielder Alison Gray and hit a hard shot down the middle.

“Alison just gave me the perfect pass,” Trott said. “It went right to mfeet.”

The two teams got off seven shots apiece in the first half although most of the action occurred in the midfield.

The second half started off slow, but quickly heated up as Brewer began to make more forays into Old Town territory.

“We played pretty good possession in the first half but we weren’t making the killer passes,” Old Town coach Bill Meehan said. “When Brewer picked up the intensity in the second half, we didn’t match that.”

Trott and a slightly retooled offense, with three forwards instead of Brewer’s usual two, led the way. The new look, Brewer coach Bill Schwarz said, was to jump-start the faltering attack.

“We knew we needed people to go forward and break this drought,” he said.

The Witches’ backfield of Abby Prentiss, Mandy Brigalli and Michelle McLaughlin shut down Indian scoring threats Kalina Cuarisma, Jody Kenniston and Kristen Tracewski, although Old Town midfielder Kristy Thurston got off a threatening shot with 1:40 left in the game that was saved by Everett.

“We had a couple of chances like that, but they just didn’t materialize into anything,” Meehan said.

“We didn’t mark anyone,” Schwarz said of his defensive scheme. “We just told our defenders to be aware of where everyone was.”

It is no surprise that Trott broke open the game – she has scored eight of Brewer’s 13 goals this season.

Trott was a problem for Meehan’s Indians as she was responsible for half of Brewer’s 15 shots.

“We had our sweeper [Becky McFalls] stay back to be an outlet,” Meehan said. “I told the kids to watch out and not give her the clear shot. But still, it was tough to defend her because she’s so fast.”

Both goalies were crucial in the evenly-played game. Everett saved six of Old Town’s 12 shots and Indians keeper Justine Ferland had nine saves.

“I thought Justine had a great game,” Trott said.