RICHMOND – Frustration has been a foreign concept for the Richmond High School girls soccer team this fall.
During the regular season the Bobcats played in just a single one-goal game en route to a sterling 14-0-0 record, allowing only four goals while netting 83 of their own along the way.
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Behind a conservative defensive formation and strong play in net from senior Taylor Esty, Rangeley gave Richmond all it could handle in the Western Maine Class D semifinals Friday afternoon, yet it was not enough as the Bobcats managed to notch a 1-0 win on the heels of Meranda Martin’s goal early in the second half.
“We talked about it over the course of the season because I think this season we’ve been behind — unfortunately, really — like 28 minutes,” Richmond coach Troy Kendrick said. “How are we going to react when the chips are down a little bit or things aren’t going our way?”
The Bobcats answered that question rather resoundingly, although it took quite a bit of time to do so.
During the opening half the ball spent the bulk of the time on the Lakers’ side of center, but the Bobcats only got a few decent looks on goal thanks to the Rangeley defense.
The Lakers routinely dropped as many as eight — and sometimes even nine — defenders into their defensive zone to take away the operating space for Richmond, with Blayke Morin anchoring the defense in the middle.
When the opportunity arose to mount an offensive attack the Lakers only sent three or four — barring the occasional set piece off corners and free kicks — as to protect against a counterstrike from Richmond.
“We gave them everything we had and everything they’ve had to this point this year,” Rangeley coach Chip Smith said. “…(They had to) believe that we could do this and they did start believing that.”
Rust also played a role in the Bobcats’ slow start, as it was the first time in over a week that Richmond had played a game.
“We hadn’t played in a week and a half and we’re not used to doing that,” Martin said. “We’re used to playing twice a week, three times a week and we had a huge layover and it was hard for us.”
Rangeley’s defensive strategy kept the game scoreless at halftime but it would not stay that way for long.
As the game clock approached the third minute of the second half junior Kelsea Anair sent a ball into the box that found an open Martin 12 yards away from the goal.
The sophomore standout had enough time to play the ball off her chest, settle it with her feet and take a touch before burying the ball low in the left corner of the net with 37 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the contest. Despite the time she had to make the play at such close range, Martin said it was simply a matter of instinct taking over.
“It just comes naturally as a soccer player throughout high school, throughout middle school and all the way through,” Martin said. “It kind of just hit me like that. I didn’t really think about it.”
From there Rangeley did what it could to try to get the equalizer, but it never came. The Lakers last chance came with 1:52 remaining when the visitors drew a corner, yet Rangeley could not get a shot on net.
“They hung in there,” Smith said. “They’re good kids, we have a young team and we lose two seniors.”
Even though the frustration was there at times for Richmond, it never boiled over into panic. Part of that is because the Bobcats have a number of players that know what it takes to win a state championship, having done so just this past spring in softball.
“It’s a great feeling going out there being in the game and just playing in that game,” Martin said of Richmond’s softball state title. “Win or lose it’s a great experience.”
Martin and her teammates will be looking for the chance to play for a state title Wednesday, as they will host Greenville or Searsport in the Western D finals.
Evan Crawley—621-5640
ecrawley@mainetoday.com
Twitter: @Evan_Crawley
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