YARMOUTH—The Greely girls’ soccer team started the second half of the 2009 season by continuing its winning ways.

The Rangers got goals in each half and put forth a smothering defensive effort to improve to 7-0-1 with a 2-0 victory at Yarmouth Monday night.

Continuing a season-long theme, Greely got balanced scoring as freshman sensation Sammi Toorish and sophomore Audrey Parolin tickled the twine and senior goalkeeper Jamie Moody barely had to break a sweat.

“Defensively, this was our best game of the season,” said Rangers coach Michael Kennedy. “Our rotations and tracking were good. Jamie didn’t have much to do.”

Two contenders

Greely reached the semifinals in 2008 before losing to Gorham. This year, the Rangers have dazzled, opening with a 6-0 home win over Freeport, tying defending Class B Falmouth 1-1, winning 6-0 at Wells and 1-0 at home over York before cruising to easy victories over Lake Region (7-2), Poland (3-0) and Fryeburg (4-0).

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Yarmouth, meanwhile, also a semifinalist in 2008, is a young squad this fall and has been very competitive. The Clippers opened with a 6-0 home win over Wells, played visiting Cape Elizabeth to a scoreless tie, downed Freeport 6-0 and Gray-New Gloucester 4-1, then lost 2-1 in overtime to Falmouth. Last Tuesday, Yarmouth was a 3-0 winner over Fryeburg.

A year ago, the Rangers won both meetings, 3-1 in Yarmouth and 1-0 (in overtime) in Cumberland. Monday, Greely extended their unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2) against their rival with a solid effort.

After carrying play for most of the first half, the Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Senior Taylor Hicks won possession along the left sideline, passed to junior Stella Keck, got the ball back and raced in before launching a shot. The ball forced Yarmouth junior goalkeeper Samantha Fochler to come out of the cage and when she couldn’t handle the shot cleanly, Toorish was right there to bang the ball home for a 1-0 advantage.

“We work on that a lot in practice,” Toorish said. “Taylor’s a great player. It was a
great pass. I was in the right place. It was nice to see the ball pop
free. It would have been hard for the keeper to catch it because of the
angle.

“It’s never the same person. We don’t depend on one person. We have several girls with four or five goals. The team’s really welcoming. We have a nice senior class.”

“(Sammi) just turned 14, but she doesn’t play like it,” Kennedy added. “She has a very high
soccer IQ. She’s a great kid who loves to play the game. She fits in
well. It’s been an easy transition for her. She’s one of the better
players in the state for her age.”

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Yarmouth’s best chance came in the 33rd minute when junior Danielle Torres had a good look, but fired a low shot wide. The Clippers also had two corner kicks in the first half that went to no avail.

The Rangers got some breathing room in the first minute of the second half. With 39:16 left in regulation, Parolin sent a 20-yard low blast that Fochler couldn’t handle and it was 2-0.

Greely almost went up 3-0 in the 48th minute, but senior Kylie Ross’ low shot was nicely saved by Fochler.

Yarmouth almost cut into the deficit with 17:50 to play when freshman Tess Merrill took junior Becca Bell’s cross and shot just wide. Then, with 6:25 left, Merrill couldn’t quite reach Torres’ pass in the box.

The Rangers went on and closed out their 2-0 win and improved to 7-0-1.

“It wasn’t a very good first half for us,” said Kennedy. “It’s always tough the first
time we come here and play a night game. It took us a whole half to get
used to the ball skipping. Once we got used it, we possessed better.
The second half was one of the best halves, if not the best half we
played.”

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The Clippers fell to 4-2-1, but weren’t overly discouraged.

“We didn’t have many opportunities,” said Yarmouth coach Rich Smith. “(The Rangers) were very strong. We’re playing without (senior) Lizzie Fischman, our leading scorer. The second goal took the wind out of us. We
played pretty well in the first half and held them to one goal.
Greely’s a very good team, very experienced. They pass the ball well.”

Yarmouth looks to bounce back Wednesday when it plays at York. Saturday, the Clippers are at Cape Elizabeth.

“We have a tough week,” Smith said. “We also have Falmouth again and Greely again.
The tough part of the schedule is coming up. We’ll see who we’re better
than.”

The Rangers return to action Wednesday when they host Cape Elizabeth. Friday, Greely is home against Falmouth. Next Tuesday, it goes to York.

“Our first half was definitely a lot easier than our second half,” Kennedy said. “We
have to buckle down. We have Cape, Falmouth and York coming up. This is
where we start to work.”

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“We came into the season with high expectations,” Toorish added. “Coach told us the
first day this is the best group he’s had to work with. We want to make
it to the state final. If we try our hardest, nothing can stop us. We
have the talent.”

The Rangers and Clippers meet again Oct. 19 in Cumberland.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net

 

 

GreelyYarmouthGS.jpgGreely senior Kelly Burrell (left) and Yarmouth freshman Tess Merrill battled for a 50-50 ball Monday night.
YarmGreeGS.jpgYarmouth junior Danielle Torres and Greely freshman Holly Rand battled for possession in the first half.
YarmGreelyGS.jpgYarmouth senior Nalini Robbins defended Greely senior Abby Diehl in the second half.
YarmGreeGS.jpgGreely sophomore Audrey Parolin went up high to play the ball while
Yarmouth junior Becca Bell defended. Parolin scored the Rangers second
goal in their 2-0 win Monday night.

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GreelyYarmGS.jpgGreely freshman Sammi Toorish (right, along with sophomore Audrey Parolin) celebrated her first half goal which put the Rangers ahead to stay en route to their 2-0 win at Yarmouth Monday night.


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