HERMON, Maine — The Penobscot Valley girls soccer team from Howland was on the verge of suffering a frustrating loss to Wisdom High School of St. Agatha in their Class D North final at rainy Pottle Field on Tuesday night.
But Rylee Moulton and Ellie Austin came to the rescue.
Sophomore striker Moulton tied it 1-1 with just 5:11 remaining in regulation off a pass from junior striker Austin and the two reversed roles 2:30 later with Moulton setting up Austin for the game-winner as the Howlers defended their regional title with a hard-fought 2-1 victory.
PVHS improved to 17-0 and will take on D South champ St. Dominic Academy of Auburn, 12-3-1, in Saturday’s state championship game at 3 p.m. at Messalonskee High School in Oakland. St. Dominic beat Buckfield 1-0 in the D North final.
Wisdom, the 2021 Class D North winner, wound up 15-2.
Moulton tied it when she took a pass from Austin at the top of the penalty area and put a well-struck low shot inside the post to the left of standout senior goalkeeper Colleen Thamsen.
“It was a beautiful pass from Ellie. She split the gap perfectly. I was calling for the ball at the top of my lungs,” Moulton said. “Normally, I think before I shoot but, that time, I didn’t.”
A few minutes later, Moulton muscled her way down the right flank and sailed a cross into the area for Austin, who directed it past Thamsen with her stomach.
“I knew I had to make my run going across the field and that Rylee was going to try her best to get through the defenders,” Austin said. “I’m really good at finishing with my stomach and
Rylee and I have practiced that many, many times.”
“I work on going down the side and weaving through defenders in practice,” Moulton said. “It’s like second nature. Ellie has such a good body on those. I saw her in there and I knew if I found her, she was going to put it in the net.”
Sophomore midfielder Ava Lerman scored for Wisdom late in the first half off a Kamryn Clavette pass.
Freshman goalkeeper Brooklynn Raymond made four saves on 13 shot attempts, including a pair of long-range efforts by talented Lilly Roy late in the game.
Thamsen was the busier of the two keepers and finished with 10 saves on 23 shot attempts.
The Howlers had the lion’s share of possession in the first half but Thamsen thwarted them time and time again with a number of impressive saves. She finished with eight stops in the half as PVHS had an 18-7 edge in shot attempts.
The Pioneers stunned the Howlers by taking a 1-0 lead with 7:22 remaining in the half on one of their few forays into the attacking third.
Clavette slipped a short pass to Lerman to the right side at the top of the penalty area and she lofted a perfectly placed shot that sailed over the head and off the hand of Raymond, who leaped as high as she could to try to bat it away.
Thamsen robbed Austin in the first half when she got her hands on Austin’s 10-yard shot after Austin cleverly wheeled around to create separation from a defender before letting her shot go.
Senior midfielder Roy had a number of attacking runs and was the Pioneers’ most dangerous player.
The Pioneers, who have just three seniors on their roster, were much better in the second half as they protected the lead by getting numbers behind the ball and clearing Howler crosses and passes.
They kept it simple and safe, booting the ball up the field rather than trying to pass it out of the defensive third.
Moulton said her goal gave the team some confidence and admitted that she was getting worried because time was winding down.
“We were calm because we had been getting chances and we knew we were going to keep getting them. We had to find one to capitalize on and we did,” Moulton said.