The senior forward delivered a chip to the right side of the cage to secure for Sacopee Valley a 1-0 playoff win over St. Dom’s.
Goforth’s kick made it 4-2 in the first round of five penalty kicks and delivered the Hawks the Class C South quarterfinal victory.
“Throughout the season, I missed a few in big games,” Goforth said. “That one, I went up with full confidence. I knew I was going to make it. I was very confident taking it.”
Sixth-ranked Sacopee Valley (8-6-1) advances to Saturday’s semifinal to play either Waynflete or Carrabec. Those two teams must finish their match from Tuesday because their penalty kicks were done incorrectly. The two teams will resume the round of PK’s Thursday with the Flyers leading by one.
The loss ended a string of six straight wins for the third-seeded Saints (11-3-1).
“This is such a cruel game,” St. Dom’s coach Marty Bressler said. “You could tell they were looking to grind it out. I was hoping we could get a quick goal. We had our chances. We were just unlucky.”
St. Dom’s outshot the Hawks 15-6 in the game and had a penalty kick in the first half, but Sacopee Valley keeper Cameron Cyr made the stop and kept the game scoreless.
“At first, when St. Dom’s came out and they were firing shots from 25 to 30 yards out, it looked a little daunting for us,” Sacopee Valley coach Mike Lane said. “It made me a little nervous. We finally settled in and started to play our game. When the game shifted, there were ebbs and flows the entire game, the key for us was that we didn’t lose our composure.”
After two 15-minute overtime periods, the two teams went to penalty kicks with what little light was left of an overcast day.
“We told the guys going out of the huddle, ‘Have fun, smile, this is just like practice, if you miss, so what, it’s a PK,'” Lane said.
The Hawks only missed once. Mike Murphy hit the first one, knocking it in off the post. St. Dom’s tied it with a high shot from Ben Trytek. MaCaleb Reinhard made it 2-1 for Sacopee Valley when his shot went in off keeper Austin Roy’s hand. Roy followed with a chip that went wide. After Eli Moulton hit the crossbar, St. Dom’s tied it with a low left shot from Ryan Lutrzykowski. Devin Day put the Hawks back ahead with a chip to the right. After St. Dom’s Jacob Charest put his shot over the net, Goforth finished it with his chip to the right side.
Goforth had injured his ankle late in overtime but said he felt fine after getting back in and working the kinks out.
“On the last breakaway I had, it hurt a little bit,” Goforth said. “I had to slow down because I couldn’t go full speed.”
The Saints put the pressure on early and got some shots from Gavin Bates and Connor Samson. Then, a trip in the box with 14:52 to play in the half gave the Saints a chance to take the lead. Charest took the penalty kick, but Cyr made a diving stop.
“Our goalie came up with an amazing save on the PK,” Lane said. “You don’t see that very often. That kids hit a great shot.”
The Saints outshot the Hawks 8-2 in the second half but couldn’t break the tie. Bates and Roy had quality chances. Sacopee Valley’s Jared Jordan made a nice clear that halted a St. Dom’s odd-man rush. The Hawks had a shot by Goforth late in regulation. There was also a save by St. Dom’s keeper Alex Michaud after a ball deflected off a body in front toward the net. Michaud played in net the entire game, but Roy was the keeper during penalty kicks.
“Both defenses played amazing,” Goforth said. “My guys played their butts off. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
In the first overtime, Roy had a shot that went wide. Lutrzykowski and Roy had bids that didn’t produce shots on net in the second overtime. Charest had a shot right at Cyr. Sacopee Valley had a try from Goforth that was saved. Another Hawks opportunity came when the ball bounced over Michaud’s head but was cleared by a defender.
St. Dom’s lost two players up front to yellow cards for charging the keeper. Kyle Welsh was out during the first overtime and returned in the second overtime. Bates was lost with 7:07 left in the second overtime, meaning he couldn’t participate in the first round of penalty kicks for the Saints.
“We had our chances,” Bressler said. “That’s just the way it goes. I’ve known Coach Lane for a long time. I’ve seen Day on the Premier circuit. I’ve coached two of those kids. I knew that they were smart players. I was hoping to get the one goal and hunker down. I knew it was going to be a one-goal game, and if it went to PK’s, we had a disadvantage.”
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