SALEM — Playing through the toughest part of its schedule at the beginning of the season, the Oak Hill girls’ soccer team has started to gain early momentum after a solid, 2-1 win over Mt. Abram on Potter’s Pitch on Saturday.
“This is a very good start for us,” Oak Hill coach Nicole Camire said. “We need to score more goals, but at this point in the schedule, we are doing well.”
Oak Hill (2-1-0) opened the season with a win over Lisbon before losing a close game to powerful Monmouth. Next up, the Raiders are slated to play at St. Dom’s, Tuesday.
“We really need work on our finishing,” Camire said. “It has been difficult with the competition we are facing.”
Mt. Abram (0-3) is off to a slow start, but after Saturday’s game the Roadrunners are showing signs of intensity that coach Marc Keller had yet to see this season. During a 10-minute stretch, in the second half Mt. Abram controlled play as it worked hard to find the equalizer.
“We haven’t had the intensity but today we played a full 80 minutes,” Keller said. “Our defense was a lot better and we communicated all over the field.”
Oak Hill was on top of possession in the first half but failed to generate quality chances after registering a 4-2 shot advantage. The score at half stood at 0-0 with disappointment looming on the Raiders’ side of the field.
“We wanted to spread the field more in the second half,” Camire said. “We felt it would create better shooting opportunities.”
Midfielder Jamie Prue responded with excellent play in the middle, feeding balls wide while helping to keep the Raiders on the attack.
Three minutes into the second half, Oak Hill’s pressure paid off. The Roadrunners were called for a trip in the center of the field, 25 yards from the goal. Prue sliced a swerving ball into the right side of the net for a 1-0 lead.
“Last year I played up front, now coach has moved me into the midfield and I wanted to show some leadership by helping control play,” Prue said. “We’ve had a hard time putting up shots, today we were much better in the second half.”
The Raiders were so good in attack they built up a 14-4 second-half shot advantage.
Oak Hill’s constant pressure caused a misplayed ball in the penalty area to land on the foot of Rylea Mae Swan, who quickly hit a high hard shot into the roof of the net for a 2-0 lead at 28:25.
Mt. Abram didn’t collapse, turning the pressure on the Oak Hill defense instead. Roadrunner Lindsay Huff collected a loose ball at the 12, neatly tucking the ball into the right corner to cut the lead to 2-1 with 24:25 left in the game.
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