AUBURN — Emotions ran the gamut from the opening minute until the final whistle in Tuesday’s Class C South girls’ soccer quarterfinal between St. Dominic Academy and Waynflete.
It was the Saints displaying the jubilation at the start and the finish of a 3-2 win over the rival Flyers.
“It was a nerve-wracking 80 minutes,” first-year Saints coach Patrick Keary said.
The No. 4 Saints (8-6-1) found the back of the net in less than 80 seconds. Avery Lutrzykowski fed a through-ball to Addie Suckow, whose left-footed shot eluded Waynflete goalie Ya Stockford.
“Addie’s been shooting that shot forever,” Lutrzykowski said. “And it’s great that she finally got it in.”
The No. 5 Flyers (6-7-2) got even 11 minutes later after drawing their first corner kick of the game. Lydia Giguere tapped the ball to an unmarked Izzy Burdick, who looped a shot from just outside the box over the head of St. Dom’s fill-in goalie Rileigh Stebbins.
“That’s something that we’ve practiced all year,” Flyers coach Jon Shardlow said, “That’s just an option, it’s a look out of that set piece. And it was an option that was available, they took it, and obviously were able to capitalize on it.”
Waynflete took the lead 10 minutes later as Ava Farrar found enough space in the box to push a shot past Stebbins.
The Flyers were on their way to taking that lead into halftime until Lutrzykowski found an opening of her own. The junior captain took control of the ball along the right sideline, then carried it through the Waynflete defense and into the box before firing a shot past Stockford with 42.7 seconds left in the half.
“I was actually looking for a pass, but when I picked up my head I noticed that I had a clear lane, and so I took it. And just once I got into the box I knew that I had the shot,” Lutrzykowski said. “It definitely boosted our self-esteem up a lot, and that’s what you have to do. You need to get the team to get up and get going.”
It was Waynflete’s turn to come out flying to start the second half, but the Flyers couldn’t convert on their chance. One shot went wide, then a put-back from outside the box was saved by Stebbins. The Saints got a chance of their own to take the lead, but Emma Theriault’s 25-yard direct kick glanced off the crossbar and Lutrzykowski’s rebound attempt went over it eight minutes in.
St. Dom’s did net the go-ahead goal five minutes later. Madison Samson’s cross from the right side was volleyed into the goal by Emily Wallingford.
The final 27 minutes for the Saints were spent making sure that lead stuck, but it wasn’t easy, especially in the final 10 minutes. Stebbins, a senior captain and a midfielder-turned-goalie with the loss of starting keeper Hannah Kenney, came out in the box to stop a Farrar chance point-blank with 9:30 left, then watched another Farrar chance glance off the post three minutes later.
Stockford was taken out of the Waynflete net, changed out of her goalie jersey, and inserted at forward for the Flyers’ final push. She had a chance of her own, but Stebbins topped her re-direct of a cross by Emily Boedeker with five minutes to go.
Keary called Stebbins’ performance “massively” inspiring.
“The loss of Hannah has been a big loss for us, but being the captain (Rileigh) is, and the girl she is, she stepped up for the rest of the team and she had a magnificent performance,” Keary said.
Six of Stebbins’ eight saves came in the second half.
“They did a very nice job of protecting their lead, created some difficulties for us in the back,” Shardlow said. “We were able to create opportunities, we just weren’t able to put them away.”
St. Dom’s now advances to the regional semifinals, where the Saints will face former MVC rival and top-seeded Monmouth.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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