MADISON — With just 11 healthy players for Wednesday’s Class C South girls soccer quarterfinal game, No. 10 Boothbay knew it had a tough task against No. 2 Madison. When one of those players went down with an injury early in the game, forcing the Seahawks to go a player down the rest of the way, a tough task became impossible.
Ahead three goals at halftime, Madison scored three more goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half, pulling away to an eventual 9-0 win.
Madison, now 14-1-0, will host either No. 6 Old Orchard Beach or No. 3 Sacopee Valley on Friday in the regional semifinals. Boothbay finished 5-11-0.
Throughout the first half, Madison dominated control of the ball, but missed numerous opportunities to score.
“In the first half, we were connecting our passes, we just couldn’t find the back of the net. Once we got on a roll finishing, it just kind of sparked from there,” said senior Madeline Wood, who scored four goals.
Emily Edgerly’s goal just over two minutes into the second half pushed the Bulldogs’ lead to 4-0. Wood made it 5-0 at the 34:09 mark when she scored on an Ashley Emery corner kick. Emery’s goal a few minutes later gave Madison a 6-0 lead.
“We talked about it at the halftime. We were passing the ball well, but we weren’t finishing well. We needed to relax and make sure our finishes were well done. The girls responded well,” Madison co-head coach Michael Walsh said.
Wood scored a pair of goals early in the first half to stake the Bulldogs to a 2-0 lead, and the second was an accidental thing of beauty. Stationed just beyond the top of the left corner of the box, Wood sent the ball toward the far post, hoping to find a teammate to knock it home. Instead, the ball curled into the upper right corner of the net.
“To be honest, I was not even trying to shoot it. I was trying to get people on the far post and it just happened to go in,” Wood said.
Boothbay began the game with no substitutes. With just over 32 minutes to play in the first half, Seahawk midfielder Olivia Paolillo was hit in the face by a line drive pass. Paolillo staggered a few steps before falling to the turf. A few minutes later, she was helped to the sideline by Boothbay coach Ben Powell. Minutes later, Paolillo was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital as a precaution.
“I felt bad for them. It’s always tough having injuries and having to play down a person,” Wood said.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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