PARIS — After a loss that was hard to swallow last Friday, the Oxford Hills girls’ soccer team had a lingering bad taste in its mouth over the weekend.

The Vikings lost at previously winless Skowhegan, and that wasn’t a defeat that set well with the team.

“They didn’t want that loss to define them,” Oxford Hills coach Chad Truman said. “They were really motivated to come out and play differently (Tuesday). They came out really slow in that (Skowhegan) game but dominated the game. I think it was 23-3 in shots and we ended up losing.”

The Vikings made amends Tuesday night in the regular-season finale. After a scoreless first half, Oxford Hills struck twice for a 2-0 victory over Cony.

“It was a big win,” said Mikayla Morin, a junior midfielder. “We lost a game that we shouldn’t have. So this was a good way to end the season. It was good for us to start playing the way we play and get back into it with the playoffs right around the corner.”

Morin and senior Haylee Chute had the two goals to help the Vikings end the season a 8-4-2. Oxford Hills was hoping for a chance at the fourth seed with a win, but a Brunswick victory over Mt. Ararat may have secured a home quarterfinal against the Vikings next week.

“We have had games where we didn’t come out on top, but we rebounded right after it,” said Coley Zufelt, a senior midfielder. “We wanted this game after that previous loss. We  just try not to get down and just try to keep going.”

Oxford Hills had beaten Cony 3-1 earlier in the year. The Rams (7-6-1) were missing some key players in that outing. So the Vikings expected a tougher battle, especially with playoff positioning on the line. Cony is currently ranked seventh in Eastern A.

“We knew this would be a tough game,” Truman said. “They were definitely mentally prepared.”

Cony kept the game scoreless with an aggressive defensive game that tried to bottle up the Vikings.

“They were a lot more physical,” Morin said. “They were a lot more aggressive than they were the first time. I think they saw how we played the first game and then used that to help them in this game.”

The Vikings seized momentum in the game early in the second half. Zufelt had a rush with three defenders on her and drew a foul in the penalty area that led to a penalty kick and the first goal.

“The game changed emotionally right there,” Truman said.

Morin took the penalty kick. Cony keeper Autumn Sudsbury made a nice save on the shot, but Morin was able to jump on the rebound and put it in  at 7:57.

“Usually they don’t get to those,” Morin said. “She made a good save.”

Oxford Hills added to the lead midway through the half. Zufelt set up Chute for the second goal with 23:10 left in the game.

“We knew they were going to mark Mikayla in the middle,” Truman said. “They’d overload the side the ball was on. So if we could switch fields that could give us an advantage. We were able to do that better in the second half.”

Sam Bickford finished with four saves for the Vikings, which posted two shutouts in its final three games.

kmills@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link