Wiscasset hosted its Mountain Valley Conference rivals from Monmouth Wednesday evening, July 25 in this summer’s final girls soccer game. After 80 minutes of play, the visitors came away with a 3-0 win.

A good-sized crowd lined the sideline of Wiscasset Middle High School’s lower field. That was not surprising because the Wiscasset roster has included between 17 and 20 girls this summer, an excellent turnout. Monmouth’s squad included just 12 girls, meaning they had only one substitute.

The two teams battled for field possession in the opening minutes. Wiscasset coaches Duane Goud and Todd Souza rotated in their first subs midway through the period ­– something they’ve done in the previous games this summer.

Due to the heat and humidity, the teams agreed to play four, 20-minute periods rather than two 40-minute halves. The game remained scoreless after the first 20-minute quarter as the teams battled to maintain ball possession.

The first scoring opportunity came about 10 minutes into the game. Monmouth’s Abbie Crawford broke free with the ball, causing Wiscasset goalkeeper Lily Souza to charge from the net for a sliding save.

Early in the second period, Monmouth took the game’s first corner kick. The ball carried to the goal mouth. Souza caught it and cleared the ball downfield. Wiscasset’s backfield anchored by Gwen Webber and Ellie Pratt played solidly as did the midfielders.

Crawford, who by the way is an incoming freshman at Monmouth Academy, finally scored in the final minute before halftime. In a chase for a loose ball, she beat Souza who had lost her footing and fallen.

Monmouth held a 6-0 shot edge in the first 40 minutes.

During the break Coach Goud encouraged his players, telling them they needed to work together and communicate with one another. “We’re looking to make some runs at their goal and when we do, you have got to support. We need to put more pressure on them.”

Wiscasset played better in the opening minutes of the third period. Natalie Potter centered a nice pass just outside the Monmouth 18 but the drive was broken up before Wiscasset could get a decent shot off.

Monmouth drove again. Crawford fired, ringing the ball off the goal post. Shortly after, Libby Clement netted Monmouth’s second goal.

With six minutes left in the game, Wiscasset was whistled for an infraction inside the penalty area. Clement went to the line and booted in a penalty kick. Wiscasset had one final drive deep into Monmouth territory but turned the ball over just outside the 18-yard line.

Souza continues to improve in the net. Most of her punts carried to midfield. She finished the game with 12 saves on 15 Monmouth shots. Wiscasset could muster just two shots against a very stingy Monmouth defense. Both shots came in the second half. 

Wiscasset will scrimmage Richmond next month before the start of the MVC regular season. The team will also take part in the annual Richmond Round Robin Tournament set for Saturday, Aug. 18.  The action gets going at Richmond High School around 9 a.m.

Richmond like WMHS is a Class D-ranked school; both play a predominately C schedule.