March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Only one goal proves enough for Waynflete> Flyers tip Wisdom for 3rd title

ORONO – The Wisdom girls soccer team had never been to a state title game before this year. So when the Pioneers faced two-time state champs Waynflete in the Class D title game Saturday, they had to look on the bright side.

On the one hand, the Pioneers of St. Agatha held off the Flyers of Portland for a half and allowed them only one goal in the game.

On the other hand, the underdogs lost 1-0 as the Western Maine power that is undefeated through two seasons won its third straight title. Wisdom finished 11-5-3, while Waynflete improved to 14-0.

“We played an excellent game. They are talented. For me, it was a victory,” Wisdom coach Mim Gagnon said. “The score could have been a lot worse. I have no complaints.”

In fact, Gagnon did have a problem – though not with her team.

The second-year coach, who also led the Pioneers to the Eastern Maine final last year, said because senior back Daisy Mueller was notified she was academically ineligible to play two days before the game, Gagnon had to do some quick shuffling.

Rather than going with a 3-3-1 formation, she played a 1-3-3, pulling Tracy Guerrette from the front line to halfback and putting freshman Nina Michaud, who normally doesn’t start, in her first playoff game at fullback.

“There was nothing we could do,” Gagnon said. “It’s unfortunate that the system is not perfect. We should have been notified earlier. Let us know she was in trouble. It came as a complete surprise to us. She found out Thursday. It kind of set us back.”

The Pioneers didn’t look set back – at least at the start.

Wisdom got off one more shot than Waynflete in the first 10 minutes of the game, while the Flyers outshot the Pioneers 8-3 in the half.

But six minutes into the second half, Waynflete’s Katie Spirer, who had been a catalyst for the Flyers’ attack in the first, sent the ball from outside the circle to Amanda Waterhouse, who was all alone at the right of the goal. Almost as if she were taking a direct kick, Waterhouse waited, then fired it to the far post at 33:20.

“I couldn’t get it,” said Wisdom goalie Jen Derosier. “I almost had it, but I just missed it.”

What was it like for a team looking to three-peat to face a first-timer in the state title game?

“It can go two ways,” Waterhouse said. “We can be really confident, but it can also backfire. A team that’s an underdog is mostly pretty intense. We came out flat, but we got right into it. Their sweeper and fullback did a great job. We couldn’t just dribble through them.”

Pioneers sweeper Becky Pelletier and Michaud played stubborn defense. Waynflete was winning all the one-on-one battles in the second half, but couldn’t get off a good shot after it scored. Meanwhile, the Pioneers struggled to get off a shot.

Waynflete outshot Wisdom 24-11 in the game.

“They were on the offensive the whole game,” Gagnon said. “They have speed in the front. By losing our center full[back], we lost out on our offensive line.”

Flyers goalie Anna Shapell stopped six shots while Derosier stopped 11.


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