LISBON — The flip throw-in is a weapon that several Lisbon High School girls’ soccer players have perfected over the years.
One of the best for the Greyhounds might have been Gabby Ouellette, who has moved onto college. But, Ouellette has since passed the knowledge of flip throws onto little sister Sydney Douglass, who used the tool to help produce a 2-2 Mountain Valley Conference tie with rival Oak Hill on Tuesday.
Douglass was credited with a goal just 90 seconds after teammate Kaylin Le had given her team a 1-0 lead late in the opening frame. Douglass sent a flip throw toward the Raiders’ goal, with the ball bouncing off two Oak Hill (1-0-1) defenders before bounding past Raiders goaltender Anna Dodge.
“Gabby taught me everything that I know about flip throws, and I have been working on it,” Douglass said. “In the first half, we played really well and went to the ball. We were ready for the game and we tried our best.”
“Sydney’s throw, I haven’t seen one better, and as long as it’s not wet, she says that she can do it,” Lisbon coach Brian Dube said. “I let her have the freedom to do it and it is a weapon.”
Oak Hill also showed a solid flip throw, with Kierra Rolston’s low, skipping throw slipping through Lisbon goaltender Ali Sult’s hands before landing on the foot of Raider Halee Lair, who made no mistake with the wide-open goal for a 2-2 tie with 12:28 remaining in regulation.
“At first it was wet, so I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t want to break anything,” Rolston said. “It dried up in the second half so I figured I could do it. I tried it in the summer and scored when the ball went in off their goaltender, so it was as big moment for us.”
Lisbon strikes
The first 34 minutes of the contest produced few offensive chances, the best coming when Oak Hill’s Eliza Whisenant fired inches wide of the Lisbon goal.
But the Greyhounds turned up the pressure, leading to the game’s first goal off the foot of Le, who took advantage of a bad bounce before gaining control and finding the back of the cage.
Lisbon continued to press and claimed the 2-0 edge on Douglass’ goal.
Oak Hill nearly faced a 3-0 deficit when Douglass sent a long throw to the far post that was headed into the net by Emma Digregorio. But the goal was waved off due to an offsides call.
Moments later, the Raiders found new life when Sydney Drew chased down a loose ball, took one step and sent a low shot into the far post past the dive of Sult (five saves) with 22:41 left in the second half.
“I thought it was pretty even overall, but they took advantage of our misplays and miscommunications, and possessed the ball in the first half,” said Oak Hill coach Jeremy Young, whose Raiders host Monmouth on Thursday. “(We) decided at halftime that we hadn’t played the way that we wanted to. I thought the teamwork was better in the second half and we were able to come back from two down.”
Oak Hill continued to press the action, led by Lair, Lydia Therrien, Julia Noel and Rolston. The Raiders dominated the second half, outshooting Lisbon 10-4 and holding a 7-0 edge in corner kicks.
In overtime, neither team produced a quality scoring chance as both teams left the field with 1-0-1 records.
“We just ran out of gas, but for us this was a big step, knowing that whatever happened here today that we would be stronger for it,” said Dube, whose Greyhounds head to Boothbay on Thursday. “I was surprised that we had a two-goal lead, thinking this would be a 1-0 game. They have the numbers and a quality program, but we are up to 24 players, so I think we’re on the way.”
Dodge finished with six saves for Oak Hill.
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