RUMFORD — Throughout its girls’ soccer season, Mountain Valley has persevered with the help of a total team effort.
That wasn’t enough, however, those traits weren’t enough Wednesday afternoon in a Class C West girls’ soccer quarterfinal at Chet Bulger Field.
The skill level of No. 6 Waynflete was simply to great to overcome. Freshman Ava Farrar scored a goal late in the first half and the as the Lady Flyers completed a 2-0 win over No. 3 Mountain Valley.
Wet weather made footing treacherous for changing directions, but it was apparent from the start of the game that Waynflete had the advantage with its skilled passing attack.
Waynflete of the Western Maine Conference and the Falcons of the Mountain Valley Conference do not play each other during the regular season. Waynflete (10-1-5) advances to play Sacopee Valley in the semifinals.
“They are a very skilled team,” Mountain Valley coach Lynn Gould said. “We just were unable to generate any thing offensively. Waynflete has a good defense and prevented us from breaking away.”
Sarah Klein has been the Falcons go-to threat, but the Flyers neutralized her. One of the few opportunities resulted from a pass by midfielder Abby Mazza, but Klein had to rush the shot, and the ball sailed wide left.
The Falcons crossed midfield only three times in the first half.
“I thought we did a good job getting the ball wide,” Waynflete coach Todd Dominski said. “Our plan was to get it outside and then cross the ball. That (strategy) led to Ava’s goal when she received the ball inside.”
Waynflete applied tremendous pressure on Falcons defenders Samantha Higley, Abby Parent and sweeper LeAnne McNally. The trio cleared several balls out of the zone in the first half.
Falcons junior goalie Karen Flaherty made 13 saves.
The Flyers led 1-0 at halftime. After a turnover, midfielder Helen Gray-Bauer corraled it and booted it inside.
Farrar bounced the ball off her chest, settled and squared up, before drilling the ball past Flaherty into the left corner with 11:05 remaining in the first half.
“We had a great season. There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Gould said of the Falcons’ 11-4 record, believed to be the most wins in the history of the program. “The girls picked up the pace in the second half. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to put the ball in the net.”
Mountain Valley’s best second-half bid came when Mazza had a run but was unable to split two defenders. Hannah Koch then led Klein, who fired a shot at Waynflete goalie Ali Pope (three saves).
Waynflete scored two minutes in to the second half, when Isabel Canning’s shot caromed off Flaherty’s hands and into the upper left shelf. The play started with a corner and McNally kicked the ball back toward Canning, who was drifting in.
“We knew that they wanted to get the ball wide,” Dominski said. “I hadn’t seen them play, but from what I’d read I knew they would try getting Klein the ball.”
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