Cutts lifts Rangers past GSA Traip Academy wins first girls soccer crown

WATERVILLE – Before the start of the Class C girls state soccer championship game Saturday, Traip Academy coach Tom Veilleux called his team together and told them to close their eyes.

“I told them, ‘Imagine if you won this game.’ I said, ‘Imagine if you lose this game.’ I said ‘Block out the second and let’s go.’ I needed them to check their emotions,” Veilleux explained.

The Rangers of Kittery did as their coach asked. They blocked out the potential for a loss by shutting down a strong George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill squad en route to a 2-0 win and the first girls state soccer title in the school’s history.

“The first time’s the charm,” said Veilleux, whose team finished at 10-8.

If the Rangers had a charm, it was in the form of sophomore striker Lindsey Cutts who scored one goal and created the opportunity for Traip Academy’s second.

Cutts opened Traip Academy’s scoring account in the second half of a game that had been played evenly to that point. It came as the result of some GSA misfortune and some unusual calm shown by the goal scorer.

The play started with George Stevens goalie Sarah Kilch losing the handle on the ball in the penalty area. Traip’s Rikki Burton took control of the loose ball and passed to Cutts who was alone at the top of the penalty box.

“I wanted to make sure it went in,” Cutts said of her shot. “I’ve had a lot of breakaways this year where I kicked it to the goalie or kicked it to the side.”

Cutts gathered in Burton’s pass and advanced slowly, waiting for Kilch to commit. As Kilch went down, Cutts chipped the ball softly over the goalie and inside the right post for her 10th goal of the year.

The goal came with 36:15 remaining in the match. The second occurred 21 minutes later and again Cutts was in the middle of things. This time it was the more hyper Cutts who found the ball at her feet 16 yards from the goal. She began flailing away at the ball.

“I just kept kicking and I looked down and didn’t see the ball and then it was in the net. It was great.”

Cutts’ third or fourth stab at the ball had deflected off Kilch to Lora Bonsaint who drilled a shot into the back of the net before any of the Eagles defenders had a chance to react. There was just 15:09 remaining in the game and the goal effectively ended any chance for a GSA comeback.

The Eagles were able to create a number of chances, outshooting Traip 12-10. In fact, it was GSA, who finished at 12-5-2, that came closest to scoring in the first half when Bethany Roberts made a run down the right wing, cut into the penalty box and fired a shot that glanced off and over the crossbar.

Then, six minutes later, Sarah Clapp’s direct kick on goal caused a moment of trepidation for the Rangers, when Traip goalie Emi Thompson mishandled the ball, leading to a mad scramble in the goal mouth that the Rangers managed to survive by clearing the ball off the line.

“I thought we created some good chances,” GSA coach Steve Bemiss said.

But Bemiss also was unhappy by what he considered his opponent’s rough style of play.

“I think maybe what it is we’re not really used to the Western style of officiating. I saw a lot of things out there that I thought were fouls that weren’t called. I saw a pattern that I had been told about, you know, by the teams that have played them earlier. They’re a team that I think stretches the envelope as far as officiating is concerned,” Bemiss said.

Clapp admitted that the Rangers’ style was something the Eagles weren’t used to.

“I don’t think we were prepared for how physical the game was going to be. We’re generally not a very physical team and we’ve had problems with that all season,” Clapp said. “They were definitely a good team. We had chances but we didn’t capitalize.”

Thompson and Kilch had eight saves each.