Poland’s Leya Harvey and St. Dominic’s goalie Hannah Kenney both dive for the ball during Thursday afternoon’s soccer game in Poland. St. Dominic’s Emily Wallingford, left, and Emma Wolverton come into the play from both sides. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
POLAND — Emily Wallingford took some sage advice from her own goalie and used it to beat Poland’s.
Wallingford won a Poland punt, took a few dribbles, then fired the game-winning shot in the first minute of the second overtime, giving St. Dominic Academy a 2-1 win over the Knights in a WMC girls’ soccer game Thursday.
“The goalie punted it and it went right to me, and I thought it was a great opportunity to help out my team and just take a shot, because our goalie, Hannah Kenney, was like telling me at the beginning of the game, ‘Shoot if you’re at the top of the 18,'” Wallingford said.
So, shoot Wallingford did.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,” Wallingford said. “I was just excited, a little bit.”
Wallingford’s chance came after Poland (2-4) backup goalie Gabby Bolduc made a save on Avery Lutrzykowski, who had scored the Saints’ (5-1) first goal on a penalty kick in the first half.
Bolduc played a key role in the game reaching overtime, topping a solid shot on a 25-yard free kick by Emma Theriault right after taking over for injured starter Sophie Vallee with about four minutes to go in regulation.
“I hope that she doesn’t have her head down because I thought she played very well, and I’m proud of her to go in in a tough situation,” Poland coach Tim Dolley said. “I thought she did well for a freshman.”
Vallee made 12 saves on 13 shots before leaving the game, the only goal she allowed being Lutrzykowski’s penalty kick with about 10 minutes to go in the first half.
The Knights were outshot despite controlling possession throughout the game. They also finished the game with an 11-6 advantage in corner kicks.
“I thought we out-possessed them, and we just didn’t finish our opportunities,” Dolley said. “Plain and simple.”
One corner in the first half went over Kenney’s head and through the goal mouth, while another was played short by Leya Harvey to Ally Gagne, who ripped a shot that Kenney saved with a dive.
“They had a lot of attacks. It was tough trying to stop them all game, to be honest, from open play and from set pieces,” St. Dom’s coach Patrick Keary said. “Thankfully, we’ve got some good defenders who work well, and we’ve worked them heading for the past two years, so thankfully we headed a few balls.”
Harvey tied the game less than 10 minutes into the second half, finding space at the top of the box before firing past Kenney to tie the game.
Kenney finished with 12 saves, while Bolduc made four in her short time in goal.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
St. Dominic’s Olivia Hallee and Poland’s Kaira Thibault chase the ball during Thursday afternoon’s soccer game in Poland. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Poland’s Hannah St. Hilaire kicks the ball inot St. Dominic’s goalie Hannah Kenney as St. Dominic’s Raegan Hachey reacts in the center during Thursday afternoon’s soccer game in Poland. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)iPoland’s Emily Bellegarde and St. Dominic’s Addie Suckow battle for control of the ball during Thursday afternoon’s soccer game in Poland. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Poland’s Hannah St. Hilaire kicks the ball past St. Dominic’s Abigail Castonguay during Thursday afternoon’s soccer game in Poland. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Poland’s Leya Harvey and St. Dominic’s Isabella Webster battle for control of the ball during Thursday afternoon’s soccer game in Poland. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
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