Deer Isle-Stonington High School’s Katie Hutchinson tries to get a foot on the ball during a home game against Lee Academy on October 19. By Jack Scott
Deer Isle—The girls soccer team got a big win against Searsport 4-3 on October 18. We played a very strong first half and controlled the ball. Jill McDonald scored two unassisted goals. Searsport scored a goal, but right before the half was over Macey Brown punched in a shot from right in front of the goal. Jill McDonald scored her third goal early in the second half. We kept that lead until about halfway through the second half when Searsport scored on a penalty kick and scored with four minutes left to give us some drama.
We held on for the win. We played the entire game with only 10 players. We did a lot of booting in the midfield in the second half and didn’t maintain the possession like we did in the first half. We had 10 shots on goal and Searsport had 14, 11 of which Katie Hutchinson saved. There were a couple times when Katie Hutchinson was out of goal that Peyton Rice cleared the ball to prevent a goal.
The girls played Lee to a 0-0 tie the next day, October 19. We did have 11 players for this game, but we didn’t control the ball as well as we had when we played Lee before. We still had many opportunities to score. Both teams had good shots and breakaways, but both goalies really stood out. Kaylee Morey was in goal for us and made several “grade A” saves that prevented goals.
We were most likely still recovering from the intense game with Searsport less than 24 hours before. Right at the end of the second overtime, goalie Kaylee Morey stopped the ball and roared up the field dribbling through the players, passing up to Jill McDonald who was just a step short of a clear shot before the Lee goalie grabbed the ball. It would have been devastating to Lee if we scored as we beat them the first time with a goal with 13 seconds left.
The girls are still hanging onto the last playoff spot by a couple Heal Points. If we make it in, we will play a road game on Friday October 25. We have played several games with 10 players and the others with 11. These girls don’t hold back no matter what the odds. If we can focus on playing our game of pass and control, we can definitely surprise an overconfident team in the playoffs.