READFIELD — Exactly one year to the day, the Waynflete girls soccer team exacted its revenge.

Senior wing Morgan Earls pounced on a rebound in the 65th minute to punch home Thursday night’s lone goal at Ricky Gibson Field of Dreams, lifting the third-seeded Flyers to a 1-0 win over No. 2 Maranacook in a Class C South semifinal. Not only did Waynflete (11-5-0) avenge its loss to the Black Bears in the 2022 regional final, but it sent Maranacook to its only loss of the season.

The defeat snapped Maranacook’s streak of four straight appearances in the C South championship.

“It’s been motivation all season,” said Earls. “It was such a good game, but we just weren’t able to do it last year. We’ve been practicing. We knew Maranacook was going to be tough defenders, and we worked really hard. It’s come together.”

A long throw-in from the left side was met by Maranacook keeper Devyn Eliason, but when the ball sprung loose, it was Earls’s foot that met it.

The tight-quarters finish was an unlikely ending to a match that saw both sides working to spring talented forwards free into space.

“We call her deadly from three feet away, and that stood true tonight,” Waynflete coach Carrie Earls said of her daughter’s decisive goal. “She just cleaned up the back post. She’s done that a few times this year.”

“How to get there as fast as possible,” Morgan Earls admitted to thinking when she saw the loose ball. “That’s what I’ve been practicing. I’ve been outside wing really my whole career, and this past year has been my first time really being able to get on those balls. It’s great.”

Maranacook’s Hadley Farwell flips while throwing the ball in during Thursday’s Class C South girls soccer semifinal game against Waynflete at the Ricky Gibson Field of Dreams in Readfield. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Maranacook’s season ended with a 14-1-1 record.

“We had some chances, but they’re a really good team. We knew that,” Marancook coach Travis Magnusson said. “Lucy (Hart) is the best player we’ve played against by far. We had to really focus on her, and that opened up things for other people.”

Carrie Earls credited last year’s loss to Maranacook with getting her squad over the hump this time around.

She said the Flyers simply weren’t prepared for what they faced last time around.

“We took a tougher schedule this year to prepare us for this,” she said. “Last time we faced them, we weren’t ready for their physicality, for their speed, their strength. This year, we battle-tested ourselves, and I think that helped a lot tonight.”

That effort helped the Flyers keep Black Bears Natalie Mohlar and Phoebe Bell contained for most of the evening.

The duo produced a few one-off chances, but there was little in the way of sustained effort in the attacking third of the pitch from the hosts.

“We got tired,” Magnusson said. “They had a stretch of about 10 minutes where we were lunging a lot. I think it was the fatigue setting in. They fought so hard all game, that’s why they got tired.”