GARDINER — Honored before the game as part of senior night festivities, and with hopes of playing softball at the collegiate level next year, Taylor Takatsu made sure that her “third sport” wasn’t forgotten.
Called into action for only five saves, the Gardiner senior goalkeeper found other ways to impact the Tigers’ 2-0 win over Erskine Academy in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference girls soccer game loaded with postseason implications Wednesday night at Hoch Field.
The victory marked the Tigers’ sixth clean sheet of the season.
“She was a really top midfield player for us, and last year we tried her out in a little bit of a pinch,” Gardiner coach Jess Prince said of Takatsu. “She might be the answer to all of our prayers out there. She was absolutely dynamic tonight. She broke up almost every offensive opportunity (Erskine) had before they even happened.”
Gardiner (11-2-0) got a first-half goal from Maggie Blais and an Erskine own-goal in the second half to win for the eighth time in its last nine matches.
“This year, there hasn’t been any (drama),” said Takatsu, who is a key cog on the Tigers’ basketball team. “That really helps us stick together. It feels more connected … than any other year here has.
“We’re here to play. This is that team. … We’re making the statement that Gardiner can be a thought in people’s heads.”
Takatsu was lightly worked in the first half against Erskine, but she dominated the second period.
Her best save of the night came in the 54th minute, when she came well off her line to make a sliding stop along her knees on Eagle Brielle Crommett’s chance from inside of 15 yards.
Erskine coach Mike Falla, whose squad dropped to 7-4-2, commended Takatsu’s performance.
“The only way to beat her is going side-to-side. You’re not going to beat her straight on,” Falla said. “They’re a quality team. I think the only way to come out of (Class B North) is to come back through this field.”
Gardiner senior goalie Taylor Takatsu, left, and other seniors jog back to their teammates after senior night observations before Wednesday’s soccer match against Erskine Academy at Hoch Field in Gardiner. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
Takatsu’s efforts went well beyond her ability to simply stop shots.
She repeatedly stepped outside the 18-yard box to clear long through balls from Erskine’s back line, and she acted as an extra fullback at times to receive back passes from her teammates to help relieve pressure. Takatsu also possessed a big right foot on goal kicks and punts, and she effortlessly hurled 25-yard passes up the pitch with her arm.
Though she didn’t play goalkeeper until her junior year, she’s taken to it like a natural.
“I thought if I made the most of it and stay active as much as I can back there, it will be great. It will be fun,” Takatsu said of how she approached the position. “I take a lot of pride. I like my coach’s confidence in me, that I can play any position on the field and she’ll trust me there.”
Trailing by a goal 10 minutes into the second half, the Eagles found some traction for a 15-minute stretch and were able to have the ball at their collective feet and threaten the attacking third.
Tiger sophomore Sophia Marrone dashed any Erskine hopes with a deep cross from the left flank in the 58th minute, however.
Targeting a running Lydia Gero at the far post, Marrone’s ball was deflected by Erskine’s Olivia Childs — who had been tracking Gero the entire way — and the redirection wrong-footed keeper Jaelyn Seamon (eight saves) for a 2-0 Tiger lead.
The response to the Erskine pressure — and to a 2-0 loss to Morse in Gardiner’s previous outing — was just want Prince wanted to see from her charges.
“This one was about us, how we were going to respond to that game where there was a little bit of adversity and we didn’t quite overcome it,” Prince said of the Tigers’ loss to Morse, which snapped a seven-game win streak. “How are we going to respond to that in our next game? I think the girls handled it really well.”
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