WATERVILLE — Black Bear sophomore Emily Harper won a one-on-one challenge with Waterville goalkeeper Jacie Richard, took a touch to her favored left foot and had only 10 yards of grass standing between her and a vacant goal. But the striker, whose 23 goals a year ago helped propel Maranacook to the Class C state championship game for the first time in program history, whistled her attempt wide right.
Harper would not make the same mistake in extra time that she did at the end of regulation.
Finally left with a few feet of space, Harper bent a shot from 18 yards out into the top corner to snap a tie in the 89th minute and lift Maranacook to a 2-1 win over Waterville at Webber Field in a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference game Friday afternoon. With the win, the Black Bears remained unbeaten on the young season at 2-0-1.
“It happened really fast,” Harper said. “I’m super-proud of our team that we worked hard until the end. We stayed with the ball and didn’t give up on the play. It’s hard to do in the last few minutes.”
The contest wasn’t all roses for Harper, who was closely marked throughout in a standout effort from Waterville center back Emme Ayers. Though she set up the first goal by expertly holding up play and laying a pass off for teammate Katie Ide to convert into a 1-0 lead only three minutes in, Harper was routinely frustrated — particularly in the second half — at the lack of opportunities she could find. Every time she gained possession in wide areas, it felt like a wall of purple shirts guarded any attempt to cut back inside.
To Harper’s credit, she stayed with the game long enough — nearly into the final minute of the second overtime session — to find the game-winner. Even after two narrow misses in the second half, the best of which came when she had Richard beaten in the 76th minute, Harper never wavered.
“She had a couple of really good chances at the end (of regulation) to get us one,” Maranacook coach Travis Magnusson said. “I think it shows a lot of toughness that even though she missed a couple she thinks she should have made, she stayed with it and made the big one to win it. I like that toughness that she showed. Even though she didn’t have some of the finishes she normally makes, she kept fighting in those last 10 minutes and got us one in the end.”
“I just happened to make a little bit of space and took a shot,” Harper said. “There’s definitely some pressure. I’ve been getting triple-teamed at times, but I have (Addie Watson) with me this year and that relieves some pressure. I can rely on her, too, to do some really great things.”
It was a hard-luck loss for Waterville (2-1-0), which played well enough to earn a result were it not for Harper’s heroics.
Senior Sadie Garling’s equalizing goal in the 55th minute came after a 30-minute run of play in which the Purple Panthers begun to gain serious traction through the midfield. Every Maranacook clearing attempt as the second half wore on seemed destined to turn into a Waterville counter, with Garling and Paige St. Pierre working well in tandem to create chances on goal.
“Contrary to some people’s belief, a tie is not worse than a loss — so I would have loved a tie,” Waterville coach Mark Serdjenian said. “But I thought we played really well. We take a lot away from this game that’s positive going forward.”
Maranacook’s back four, anchored by junior Evelyn St. Germain and sophomore Ella Schmidt, did enough to limit Garling and St. Pierre — much in the same way Ayers and company held Harper and her cohorts at bay.
“We did some good things marking,” Magnusson said. “It was a full team win, and they really did a nice job.”
Richard finished with five saves for Waterville. Her opposite number, Skyeler Webb, recorded four saves.
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