LEWISTON — For just over 51 minutes, the University of Maine at Farmington’s one-goal lead withstood endless pressure from Bates College’s offense in a women’s soccer game at Garcelon Field on a mild Sunday afternoon.
Two reasons explain the longevity of UMF’s 1-0 lead — its defense and junior goalie Callie Hammer. But the Bobcats’ endless assault on the Beavers’ net resulted in a three-goal flurry in the second half and eventually a 3-1 victory.
“Sometimes, that’s just how the game goes,” Bates coach Joe Vari said. “I thought we were pretty measured with our tempo. We did a pretty good job of moving the ball around.
“We had a couple of different options on a couple of different plays and being able to finish on a couple chances was big for us.”
Beavers coach Molly Wilkie thought a one-goal lead might do the trick for her team.
“I hoped it would hold,” Wilkie said. “I thought there was a chance. We knew they continued to pressure us. I thought we played hard, gritty and admirably … and I felt like we could get another goal, too. So even after they tied it and went ahead, I felt like, ‘Oh, we are still in this,’ I think we were in it but …
“The reason we play these games are to raise our level. I think we absolutely did today. Super proud of them. ”
UMF junior forward McKenna Brodeur blasted the ball into the upper-left corner of the net using a freshman midfielder Emily Boyle feed at 9:52 in the first half.
From there on in, it was Bates’ game, but the Bobcats had nothing to show for their persistent efforts until the second half. Hammer made sure Bates didn’t slip one by her in the first half and made a total of 13 saves, which frustrated the ‘Cats.
“(Hammer) loves to play; she loves these moments,” Wilkie said. “She doesn’t want to play a game without any shots. She wants to get the shots because she is up for it. She was awesome. She kept us in it for sure. She was unbelievable.”
Bates’ temerity finally paid off in the second half when senior forward Sarah DiPillo took a pass from junior midfielder Caroline Bogue and scored the tying goal at 60:31.
Bates senior midfielder Riley Turcotte scored 13 minutes later on a feed from sophomore Annie Doig at 73:52 to hand the ‘Cats a 2-1 lead.
Any chance for the Beavers to bounce back was out of the question after freshman midfielder Elizabeth Patrick scored on a pass from freshman Laura Jarry with 4:09 left in the game.
The Bobcats dominated most of the contest, and their 36-3 ratio in shots proved their point. UMF also did not have a corner kick. Bates had eight.
Send questions/comments to the editors.