RICHMOND — A slightly less experienced Richmond girls soccer team will bid for its second straight Class D state championship following its 2-0 South regional final win over Searsport on Wednesday.
The top-seeded Bobcats (15-1) got a first-half goal from Destiny Anair and a second-half score from Meranda Martin en route to the win over the No. 6 Vikings. They’ll meet North Maine champ Ashland on Saturday at 10 a.m. at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland for the state title.
Searsport came prepared to stop Martin and sophomore Caitlin Kendrick and, for the most part, it succeeded. But it came at a price. The Vikings spent nearly the entire game in their own end of the field as the Bobcats put 32 shots on goal to just one for Searsport.
“We had a lot of shots and nothing was falling,” Martin said. “I think toward the end of the game we were getting very frustrated.”
Martin had some good chances in both halves but didn’t get on the scoreboard until she headed in a corner kick from Anair with four minutes left to play for her 38th goal of the season.
“She’s one of the best players in the state regardless of class,” Searsport coach RJ Robertson said. “We focused on her last game as well but Caitlin Kendrick killed us so we tried to focus on two of them, and then you’ve got (Anair) on the outside. It makes it difficult.”
Anair gave Richmond a 1-0 lead nine minutes into the game when she hit a high shot from 20 yards over the outstretched arms of Vikings goalkeeper Brooklynn Alberts. The junior goalie finished the game with 26 saves to keep her team in the game.
“She’s been a goalie all three years,” Robertson said. “That’s probably the best game she’s had individually.”
Richmond’s Ashley Brown hit two shots off either post in the first four minutes of the second half as the Bobcats clung to their lead.
“We start a bunch of freshmen and sophomores,” Richmond coach Troy Kendrick said. “I liked how hard we worked. Boy we had some opportunities. We stuffed a few didn’t we.”
Martin is one of four seniors captains on a team with nine freshmen and sophomores. She admits this team is not as strong as the team that won a state title a year ago, but is happy with the progress it’s made.
“We’re definitely not as strong as last year,” she said. “But our team chemistry is great this year. I think this is the best team chemistry I’ve ever played on. It’s a younger team but some people have stepped up and really filled roles.”
The Bobcats capitalized on their 10th corner kick of the game when Anair floated a perfect pass to Martin, which she angled off her head into the goal.
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