Jared McLaughlin scored two goals, both on direct kicks in the first half leading the Winthrop Ramblers to a 3-0 win over host Wiscasset/Boothbay Thursday night at Wiscasset Middle High School.

The win improved Winthrop’s Mountain Valley Conference soccer record to 6-2. TheWolverines fell to 3-7.

Three minutes after the opening kickoff, the Wolverines were whistled for charging just outside the penalty area. McLaughlin drilled the ball into the net despite a diving effort by Caleb Gabriele, the Wolverine goalkeeper. McLaughlin struck again with 8:37 left until halftime. His shot from 20 yards away carried into the upper right hand corner of the net.

The Wolverines’  first drive came at 32:15. Matt Chapman crossed a pass to Rowan Kristan in front of the goal. Kristan got off a nice shot but the Ramblers’ keeper Jake Smith slide to his left for the save. Chapman chipped a shot from the right side with 11:01 remaining until halftime. Winthrop’s Andrew Frost leaped and headed the ball away.

The shot total was even at six apiece over the first 40 minutes. Gabriele recorded six saves while Smith had five for Winthrop.

The field conditions were poor from heavy rain the day before and got worse in the second half. Both teams struggled to move and maintain possession of the ball. Ten minutes in, a direct kick by Winthrop’s Noah Grube from 40 yards out was blocked and cleared away by defender Matt Smith in the backfield. The Wolverines then took possession of the ball and dominated the next eight minutes of play.

After the Ramblers were whistled for tripping, Brian Foye’s direct kick at the goal was deflected behind the net, setting up a corner kick. Foye  chipped the ball to the goal mouth but Rambler Sam Figueroa got to it first and booted it to the sideline. Grube’s unassisted goal at 25:42 put the visitors up 3-nil. Worse still, Gabriele injured his knee on the play and had to leave the game. L J. Travis played the rest of the game in the net for Wiscasset/Boothbay.

Tim Chappelle fired off two shots in the game’s  final 10 minutes. The first  just missed wide left. The other, a direct kick following a handball, came from about 35 yards out but Smith was there for the stop. Gabriele finished with 10 saves. Travis had one for the Wolverines. Smith finished with eight saves for Winthrop.

The Wolverines entered last night’s game still seeded number 10 in the class C south standings, Winthrop was number seven. The top nine teams advance to the post season play.