AUBURN – Every soccer team with aspirations of advancing deep into the playoffs eagerly anticipates one, timely goal from an unexpected source.

Imagine the thrill for St. Dom’s when the Saints saw such a relatively anonymous hero emerge not once, or twice, but three times Tuesday afternoon.

Heidi DeHaan, Alexandra Turgeon and Autumn Bell each scored a goal in the second half of Saints’ Western Class C girls’ preliminary game, steering the No. 8 Saints to a 4-2 victory over No. 9 Monmouth.

Fifteen games into the season, it was the first goal for all three players.

“We knew they were capable of doing that for us. They were due,” said first-year coach Kathy Little, who will lead the Saints into the quarterfinals against unbeaten, top-seeded Wiscasset.

St. Dom’s (8-7) needed the surprising offensive surge to put away a game it dominated statistically, out-shooting Monmouth (5-9-1) by a 34-3 expanse.

Rachel Nadeau of St. Dom’s and Monmouth’s Bianca Cloutier exchanged goals in a 38-second span. Allison Turcotte assisted the Saints’ strike, while Kelsey Condon set up the Cloutier score, both less than five minutes into the contest.

It remained 1-1 at halftime, thanks in part to a stellar effort by goalkeeper Cortney Barrett of Monmouth.

“Our freshman goalie played very well,” Monmouth coach Steve Bodge said of Barrett, who made 20 saves. “She missed a few games due to injury, but you could see the difference when she played. I think her personal record was 5-3 coming into this game.”

The Saints solved Barrett and created what appeared to be ample breathing room early in the second half.

Monmouth deflected Allison Gagnon’s initial shot wide, but DeHaan tracked down the ball at the far post and redirected it past Barrett at 4:45 for a 2-1 lead.

Less than two minutes later, Lauren Potvin threaded the needle with a cross from left to right, and Turgeon booted home the insurance goal.

Undaunted by the two-goal deficit, the intermittent rain or the 40-degree temperatures, the Mustangs clawed back within one on Alex Gauthier’s penalty kick with 13:55 left in regulation.

St. Dom’s swiped momentum for good with 11 minutes to go. Co-captain Lindsey Rowbotham emerged from a scramble in front of the cage and fired a wide-angle shot from close range. Bell pounced on the rebound at the right post.

“We started looking for the give-and-go and taking advantage of our opportunities,” said Little. “We had to step it up, seeing that it was only 1-1 at halftime.”

The Mustangs, members of the Mountain Valley Conference, couldn’t generate many offensive runs against the Saints. Bodge said that his team had trouble adapting to the “southern” or Western Maine Conference style of play, characterized by short, frequent passes.

“We’re only (three seasons) separated from Class D, and our enrollment still is on the low end of Class C,” Bodge said. “They beat us in the playoffs two years ago, 1-0 at our place. Teams like St. Dom’s, you never really know how good they’re going to be.”

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