WALES — Oak Hill probably saw two or three girls’ soccer teams in the Mountain Valley Conference that could compete with Fryeburg Academy.
What the Raiders probably didn’t encounter was a player who could locate corner kicks, or anything in the neighborhood of the flag that could resemble a corner kick, more accurately than Esme Hernandez.
Hernandez had a foot in No. 12 Fryeburg’s first five goals of Friday’s Class B South preliminary game. All five of them came in the second half of a 6-0 dismissal of No. 5 Oak Hill.
“We had a tough time marking them on corner kicks. That was really what got us,” Oak Hill coach Nicole Camire said. “Finding our marks when the ball is crossed in front of the net is something we tried to work on in practice, and they were able to capitalize on just a couple lapses on defense.”
Disregard what the Heal Points say. This was not an upset, not with Fryeburg (8-6-2) sharpened by a schedule made up almost exclusively of Class B foes from the loaded Western Maine Conference,
Even though Fryeburg lost four of its final five games entering the tournament, the defeats were to three Class B tournament teams and Class C South No. 1 seed Sacopee Valley.
“We just barely snuck in, but we played York, Greely, Cape,” Fryeburg coach John Atwood.
Fryeburg will travel to No 4 Yarmouth in the quarterfinals.
Hernandez, one of 13 seniors on the Fryeburg roster, led the way with two goals and two assists, officially, also she had a direct impact on another tally. Oriagna Inirio added two goals and an assist.
Kaylin Delaney and Katherine Parker also scored for Fryeburg, which enjoyed a 7-0 advantage in shots through the scoreless first half and 20-4 overall.
“Playoff games, everybody’s a little nervous to start, but once we got some time into it they felt pretty good,” Atwood said.
Fryeburg got all the bounces, too, including a pair of goals that rattled in off the crossbar and another that caromed off an Oak Hill defender.
Hernandez got the visiting Raiders on the board by taking a defender one-on-one to the edge and playing the ball like a corner. Oak Hill goalkeeper Anna Dodge slapped down the initial bid. Inirio’s redirection hit the frame and dropped in.
Six minutes later, Hernandez made an actual corner count for Fryeburg. Delaney made the initial stab at it, but it was Inirio providing the finishing touch with a header.
“You’ve got to hand it to them,” Camire said. “They’re an aggressive team. They’re fast.”
Inirio returned the favor to Hernandez in transition for a 3-0 lead. Delaney made it a four-goal lead with another friendly bounce off the metal, via Hernandez.
Hernandez’s booming, arcing corner kick stymied the Oak Hill defense for an own-goal later in the half.
“Actually the goals this year have been spread around pretty evenly,” Atwood said. “We have a lot of seniors, and they’re pretty solid.”
Dodge, a sophomore, made 10 saves for the hometown Raiders (9-6), who did not make the playoffs a year ago.
Hannah Nadeau and Julia Ahlberg were dynamite defensively in the first-half stalemate. Sydney Drew earned a late breakaway and a chance to put Oak Hill on the board, but Fryeburg’s Makayla Cooper made the one-hop save.
“I’m really proud of how the girls played today. They didn’t give up. Even when the score was coming up on us, they still fought through it and kept their heads up,” Camire said. “That’s what I was telling them at the beginning of the game. If you work hard and play hard in this game, you’ve got nothing to hang your heads about. They did it. I thought they played really tough.”
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