Lee answers first question with win over GSA for ‘C’ crown

BLUE HILL – After an undefeated regular season and a rare career level reached by two of its players, the Lee Academy girls soccer team had two more questions to answer in its move from Class D to Class C this season.

One of those was resolved Monday afternoon as the No. 3 Pandas beat top-ranked George Stevens Academy 1-0 for the Eastern Maine Class C title at the GSA athletic fields in a defensive matchup of two undefeated teams and a meeting of the defending EM Class C and Class D champions.

“Everyone said, oh they’re just Class D, they’re not going to do anything in Class C,” said Brooke Harris, Lee’s senior sweeper. “We wanted to prove that we’re not just a good Class D team but a good team in general, and we can play in a higher class.”

Lee, which had won six straight Eastern Maine Class D titles and two state crowns in a row, will have its final test Saturday at 1 p.m.

Coach Stephanie Thurlow’s Pandas (17-0) take on Western Maine champion North Yarmouth Academy, which has won four straight Class C state titles and six since 1999. Three of those state wins came against GSA (15-1-1) including last year’s 2-0 final.

The state game will be held at the Weatherbee Complex field in Hampden.

Although defense ruled Monday afternoon, there had to be a decisive goal.

That came thanks to Heidi Sappier, who scored with 29 minutes, 37 seconds left in the second half after an even first period and more back-and-forth action after halftime.

The play started with an Aarika Ritchie throw-in from the right sideline. Morgan McGaw headed the ball into the penalty area, where Amanda Gifford flicked another header toward the left post.

That’s where Sappier was waiting to kick the ball in. GSA goalie Kayla Eaton (three saves on 10 shots), was caught in the middle of the area.

“I followed through,” said Sappier. “… It was kind of like, throw it in and see what happens. It usually happens in most of our games, so we thought we’d try it again.”

Sappier left the game occasionally because of cramps. The problem? It seems she didn’t eat lunch.

It figured Gifford and Ritchie were involved in the play. They both scored their 100th career goal this season.

Once Sappier scored, the Lee defense of sweeper Harris, stopper Kimmy Thurlow, fullbacks Laci McLaughlin and Becca Dow, midfielder Dana Houghton and goalie Karin Bird (eight saves on 13 shots) earned Lee’s 10th straight shutout.

Despite her 5-foot-4 stature, Harris came up with a huge header that saved the game for Lee. With about 11 minutes left, GSA’s Emily Peake booted a corner kick that surely would have curved into the goal. But Harris elevated herself, headed the ball away, and the Pandas eventually drew a foul to clear out the ball.

She turned out to be the last line of defense as Bird was out of the goal.

“I was pretty scared,” Harris said. “[Bird] was ahead of me and I knew it was over her head and then I was right there and I saw it curving.”

The defenders knew they had to break up the Eagles’ plays as soon as possible.

“We had to challenge and we tried not to let them pass it around too much,” Harris said. “We wanted to push up to cause pressure.”

The Eagles did get the ball down on the left wing in the second half for sophomore Quinn Curtin to cross inside. Both Curtin and Alida Peake had crosses and shots on goal, but their attempts tended to go wide if Lee’s defense didn’t get there first.

“We had some great opportunities,” GSA coach Steve Bemiss said. “We just couldn’t put it away. Quinn had a couple she really ripped … It went back and forth. We had a breakdown and they capitalized.”