By Times Record and BDN Reports
PORTLAND, Maine — There was no stopping it.
After almost 100 minutes of hard-fought, end-to-end soccer in the girls Class D state championship at Fitzpatrick Stadium on Saturday, Ashland utilized a weapon Richmond simply doesn’t have.
In the second overtime period, Hornets winger Morgan Doughty swung a corner into the box from the far side. Cassidy Pelletier, easily the tallest player on the pitch, was ready for it. She rose up, headed it into the back of the net and gave Ashland a thrilling, 2-1, overtime victory.
Marked or not, no one was beating her to the ball.
“She just said ‘I was going to make a play in overtime,’ that was her comment,” Ashland coach Pete Belskis said of the 5-foot-11 Pelletier.
“She went in and got real high. The difference was whether she could keep it on net,” Belskis added. “She put a nice header into the opposite corner. Their goalie got a hand on it but it was too hard of a header.”
The result was Ashland’s second win over Richmond in the last three state finals, avenging last year’s loss in Presque Isle.
“We wanted to go down there and return the favor,” Belskis said. “This is a gritty bunch of girls. They never quit and they believed in themselves.”
Ashland won its third state title and finished at 18-0 while Richmond ended at 15-2.
Richmond was nearly the one celebrating, narrowly missing two great scoring opportunities in overtime.
“My biggest job through the postseason was just convincing the girls that we could play with these guys,” Richmond coach Troy Kendrick said.
“We had a really strong team last year, beat them (Ashland) 1-0, and we knew they brought back most of their lineup,” he added.
Two Ashland corners and some early pressure turned into a pitch-perfect start for Richmond at the 12:46 mark of the first half.
After earning a free-kick outside the box, defender Camryn Hurley sent in what looked like an underwhelming ball. It bounced into traffic and deflected off a few feet before Richmond’s Emma Carbone poked it into space. Caitlin Kendrick was there to finish it into the corner and make the score 1-0.
Ashland put a couple shots on Richmond goalkeeper Sydney Tilton before flying out of the gates again in the second frame. Just over three minutes in, the Hornets moved the ball into the 18-yard box and tried to clear a path for goal. Three players fell to the pitch before eighth-grader Willow Hall stepped up and fired it past Tilton to even the score.
Unlike most offenses the Richmond back line faces, Ashland brought speed and width to the table. Especially on a fast, unfamiliar playing surface, Hurley and company were forced to adjust.
The Hornets took 11 corners in all, coming close on a couple loose balls in front of goal. Tilton was faced with seven shots on frame (12 total), handling all but two cleanly.
Ashland’s Megan Cote made five saves against 11 Richmond shots.
“They’re sweeper, she’s very tough. If she gets the ball, she can boot it far,” Richmond senior captain Meranda Martin said of Pelletier.
Ashland’s depth and its core players also proved pivotal as Richmond concentrated on stopping 52-goal scorer Mackenzie Carter but other players, such as Doughty, were then difficult to contain.
Doughty set up both goals via corner kicks and finished the season with 27 goals and 25 assists.
Belskis said he was unfazed by his team trailing 1-0 at halftime.
“I felt really good about our chances. We hadn’t been shut out all year and have averaged eight goals a game. I was confident we would get on the board,” he said.
