Girls soccer: Early goal gives lifts NYA over Maranacook in C South final

Third-seeded Panthers beat top-seeded Black Bears 1-0 to advance to Class C title game.

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AUBURN — North Yarmouth Academy head coach Ricky Doyon figured there would be more than one goal scored in Wednesday’s Class C South girls soccer final, but since his team won the game, he’s more than fine with the 1-0 result.

The victory over top-seeded Maranacook sends third-seeded NYA to its first Class C state title game since 2007.

Five minutes and 27 seconds into the game, Panthers sophomore forward Natasha Godfrey scored the game’s only goal after rebounding a blocked shot in front of the net.

“I’m just really excited,” Godfrey said. “I don’t even have words. I’m just thrilled.”

“It was big for us to get that first goal,” Doyon said. “We needed it. I was looking for a second one. I thought we had some chances, but we just didn’t get it, and we just kept playing hard. Even at the end, even though we were up, only five minutes left, we were still attacking because we were able to maintain the ball.”

NYA (14-3) took 21 shots, 10 of which were on goal, compared to 13 and four by Maranacook (14-1-2).

The Black Bears’ offense looked to capitalize on quick counterattacks, but the Panthers’ backline stifled any clear shot at the net. When Maranacook was able to infiltrate the final third, many passes towards the players in the middle did not connect.

NYA was able to race down the sidelines and move the ball into the center of the pitch, setting up Ella Giguere or Delphine Daniel to unleash a hard shot, but those were often met by Maranacook goalkeeper Devyn Eliasen. The senior recorded nine saves, all of them after a collision with Godfrey in the 29th minute. Eliasen laid on the field for about a minute and was tended to by trainers, but she got back up and remained in the game.

“She played her best game of her career,” Maranacook head coach Travis Magnusson said. “I thought our fullbacks did a tremendous job. That really took away their pulling offensive players, so I’m really proud of them for that, too. Everybody played their best, and that’s what we needed.”

Maranacook’s best opportunity to match the score came during the 50th minute, when a 30-yard free kick from Cooper Davis hit the crossbar and Phoebe Bell’s rebound went just outside the right post. Sadie Morgan, who began her high school career at Lewiston, made four saves for the Panthers.

“They left it out there,” Magnusson said. “Sometimes it’s just breaks. We hit the crossbar twice. There’s nothing different that you can do, just, it’s unlucky. It’s what the game is, for sure. It’s cruel sometimes. But NYA’s good, they’re great. I mean, they would potentially win Class A, too — they’re that good.”

For NYA, Wednesday’s win was a redemption. After winning four straight state championships in Class D, the Panthers moved up to Class C in 2023 and fell to eventual state champion Wayneflete in last year’s regional final.

NYA will face Class C North champion Fort Kent (15-2) in Saturday’s state title game. The match is set to kick off at Cameron Stadium in Bangor at 12:30 p.m.

Godfrey says the key to clinching this year’s state crown will be maintaining focus and positivity over the next two days of practice. For Doyon, the key will be to improve scoring.

“We had a couple good opportunities that could have taken us out of this last 10, 15 minutes of, ‘We gotta hold them,'” Doyon said. “We need to finish. We finish a couple of goals, it lightens up the game a lot. It changes how they’re going to play us and how we have to play. So we need to finish. It’s that simple.”

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