Lisbon defender Abby Lebel (23) prepares to make a pass while being pressured by Wiscasset’s Cara Viele in Tuesday’s MVC girls soccer matchup at Lisbon. Bob Conn/The Times Record Buy this Photo
LISBON — When Lisbon opened its Mountain Valley Conference regular season at Telstar last Thursday, the Greyhounds came out flat and paid the price with a loss.
Lisbon didn’t have that problem in its MVC home opener against Wiscasset, scoring three goals in the first nine minutes en route to a 10-1 victory.
Wiscasset midfielder Kateleen Trask (19) clears the ball away from Lisbon’s Makenzey Bedford (9) as Trask’s teammate Naomi Wood (12) looks on. The Greyhounds rolled to a 10-1 MVC girls soccer win at Lisbon on Tuesday. Bob Conn/The Times Record
The Greyhounds are 1-1, while the Wolverines fall to 0-2.
Destiney Deschaines powered a shot off the right post and into the cage 3:32 into the game for an unassisted goal. Kiley Merritt followed with two straight goals, the first on a penalty kick. Only 9:02 into the game, the schedule was 3-0 Lisbon.
“It was imperative after coming out against Telstar flat — with no urgency, and we paid that price (with a 4-0 loss) — where today they knew what they needed to do, be on the ball, on their toes and attack,” Lisbon coach Jenniffer Perron said. “We worked really hard on communication and making passes with a purpose. It fell together.”
“We came out strong today, unlike Telstar,” Merrit said. “We came out slower that last game, then stepped it up in the second half. Today we played good throughout the whole game. We played the ball really well to the corners today. We had good passing.”
Giana Russo jumped into the scoring act, and Deschaines closed the half by completing her hat trick, giving Lisbon a 6-0 halftime lead.
Lisbon’s Giana Russo (12) and Wiscasset’s Kateleen Trask (19) battle for a loose ball at Lisbon on Tuesday. Bob Conn/The Times Record
The importance of moving the ball out of the middle of the field to the corners paid dividends for the speedy Greyhounds, who outshot Wiscasset 11-3 in the first half.
“A lot of times we get drawn into the middle, get bottlenecked, and we can’t make our passes,” Perron said. “Getting wide, with the speed we have, allows us to get the ball and make those crosses.”
“Lisbon is able to move the ball around, and we weren’t anticipating passes and marking as well as we needed to,” Wiscasset coach Duane Goud said. “We have to show more hustle. We will get there.”
After Merritt finished off a pass from Russo for a 7-0 lead early in the second half, Wiscasset battled back as Latisha Wright chipped a pass from teammate Cara Viele past Lisbon goalie Sarah Haggerty (six saves) to get the Wolverines on the board.
“We came out in the second half ready to play,” Goud said. “We told them at halftime to forget the first half and start chipping away.”
Lisbon, which held a 21-7 shot advantage, finished strong. Russo served a corner kick to the waiting head of Merrill for her fourth goal, and Merritt completed the scoring with two more goals, giving her five. Kyra Tancrede and Deschaines each earned a helper. Russo finished with three assists.
Wiscasset goaltender Lily Souza made 10 saves,and Lisbon finished with a 5-4 edge in corner kicks.
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