Vikes hold off Hawks for championship

SEARSPORT – Searsport High School junior striker Shanna Murphy was one of the smallest players on the field but she probably made the biggest play.

Murphy’s goal with 8:42 remaining Saturday enabled the Vikings to survive a Hodgdon High rally and claim their first-ever Eastern Maine Class C schoolgirl soccer championship 4-2.

Junior striker Nicole Shute notched her first two-goal game of the season and set up Murphy’s clincher on the cold, blustery afternoon that heavily favored the team which had the wind.

Senior striker Jessie Plourde had a goal and two assists for the top-seeded Vikings, who take a 12-2-1 record into next Saturday’s state championship game against 10-4-2 Traip Academy of Kittery.

Senior striker Shanna McGary had both goals for sixth-seeded Hodgdon, which finished at 11-6.

Plourde, Shute and center back Brittany Smith impressively controlled the middle of the field for Searsport but Jamie Nightingale, Andrea Blanchette and McGary were dangerous on the flanks for Hodgdon.

Searsport outshot Hodgdon 42-16.

McGary’s second goal, coming with 19:04 remaining, made it 3-2 and her energized Hawks had two chances to equalize but couldn’t convert.

Then the Vikings corralled a Hawk goal kick and created a three-pass sequence that ended with Murphy’s clincher off a Shute cross.

“I saw her going in so I decided to cross it over and there she was,” said Shute.

“I just went to the post like I was always told to do and Nicole crossed it to me, like we practiced. I just twisted and it went in,” said Murphy, who directed a 7-yarder past Hawk goalie Lindsey Stewart, who had no chance.

“Our girls turned in a great effort, especially in the second half when we had the wind,” said Hodgdon coach Brian Fitzpatrick. “We had some good chances but their last goal was obviously the back-breaker.”

Moments before the goal, Collette Sloat had a break-in down the right side but her open 12-yarder rolled wide of the far post.

Sloat fed senior striker Nightingale a few minutes later but Searsport junior goalie Mo Hall held the near post and stopped Nightingale’s 13-yard power shot.

McGary opened the scoring 5:38 into the game when she ran on to Samantha Williams’ header off an Amanda Fitzpatrick corner and slid home a 7-yarder.

Plourde tied it when her wind-aided corner found the far corner of the net.

“I was trying to find somebody but the wind curved it in,” said Plourde.

Twelve minutes later, Plourde’s cross was converted by Shute, who was 6 yards out.

“It was an awesome cross by Jessie. I ran right on to it and it went in [off my thigh],” said Shute, who made it 3-1 off a precise Plourde pass eight minutes later.

Shute placed a 12-yarder into the upper near side corner.

McGary’s second goal made things interesting as Fitzpatrick’s corner glanced to her off a Viking defender and she poked it home.

Both goalies played extremely well on the difficult day as Hall finished with seven saves while the much busier Stewart rejected 13.