WATERVILLE — Ian Wilson likes to use a boxing analogy to remind his Purple Panthers that they will ultimately be rewarded for their patience and persistence.
“It’s like body shots in early rounds,” Wilson said. “If you possess a lot, even if the score isn’t going your way, you’re eventually going to have good things happen because you’re wearing them down.”
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Waterville went to the body early in Tuesday’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference showdown with Maranacook, then delivered the knockout punch by scoring three goals in a six-minute span midway through the second half for a 4-0 win at Webber Field.
Lydia Roy collected two goals and an assist to lead the Panthers. Sarah Shoulta teamed up with Roy for a goal and an assist, while Fotini Shanos chipped in with the other goal.
The Purple Panthers (6-0) have outscored opponents, 34-0, this season.
Waterville dominated possession, particularly in the first half, and outshot Maranacook, 27-2. Elizabeth D’Angelo stopped 14 shots to keep the Black Bears (4-1-1), who had allowed one goal through their first five games, from falling out of contention earlier.
Crisp passing and hard work by midfielders such as Shoulta, Jordan Jabar, Mackenzie St. Pierre, Rebecca Beringer and Sabrina Carey kept the ball in Maranacook’s end for the bulk of the first half. Near misses by Shanos and Pilar Elias and some good hands by DiAngelo on a couple of hard shots kept it scoreless until Elias set up Roy with a through ball, which the junior outraced her mark to and fired to the lower left corner for her first goal at 15:53.
“Pilar sent me through and I just made sure to take a touch one way and shoot the other because the goalie overplayed one side, and it worked out well in my favor,” Roy said.
Maranacook tilted the field somewhat to start the second half but wasn’t able to generate a lot of opportunities out of it.
Led by Brooke Ettinger and Morgann Tortorella, Waterville’s defense kept goalkeeper Gabrielle Martin from having to face any consistent pressure all day, although the junior did make a nice leaping grab on Lillie McLaughlin’s corner kick in the eighth minute.
“Our defense reads balls really well and they drop and cover for each other,” Shoulta said. “They’re really good. Our goalie’s great, too.”
Shanos started the Panthers’ second-half flurry with a redirect of a Jabar shot at 18:20.
Exactly two minutes later, Roy scored her second goal with a low header courtesy Shoulta’s pass.
“If I can pinpoint someone, I can usually find a target to send the ball to, or a general area,” Shoulta said. “I saw (Roy) and so I sent it right over to her.”
“During halftime our coach had said that we needed to take some headers on the crosses,” Roy said. “Sarah sent in this perfect ball and I said, ‘That’s the one.'”
Roy returned the favor to Shoulta 1:55 after their initial hook-up to cap the scoring.
“A lot of things happened that wouldn’t normally happen. I don’t think we played anywhere near what we need to play to compete against a team like Waterville,” Maranacook coach Mike Morin said. “The second goal just kind of solidified to the girls ‘Ooh, this is Waterville.’ They forget what they know. They didn’t play physical. Really, they didn’t. To me, they didn’t play their next game. They’ve just got to let it go and think about what needs to happen for the next game.”
Despite being in Class C, Maranacook gave Waterville a much-needed boost in the Eastern B Heal Points standings, Wilson said.
“It’s really close in Class B East,” he said. “Presque Isle and Camden Hills are both undefeated, so this was a good win for us to put us up there with them. Home field is always an advantage in the early rounds (of the tournament), so we had this one circled on the calendar.”
The Black Bears and Purple Panthers meet again on Oct. 17 in Readfield.
Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638
rwhitehouse@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @RAWmaterial33
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