LISBON — One shot would be too high while another would be too wide. There might be a bid that was too hard or one that was too soft.

But the shot Brooke Lawrence had early in the second half Monday was just right.

The senior midfielder’s goal just 2:32 into the second half lifted Lisbon to a 1-0  girls’ soccer win over Monmouth to end the regular season.

“We looked really good today,” Lisbon coach Jake Gentle said. “We made some nice runs. We headed the ball better than we have all year, which is a good sign. Winning the ball out of the air is very important. We had some nice shots and nice touches. We just missed goals by a little bit.”

Lisbon (10-3-1) was ranked fifth in the Western C standings and is likely to draw St. Dom’s in a tournament quarterfinal.

“No regrets,” said Lawrence of the regular season. “I think we did well. I’m proud of the team. I just want to be ready for next week.”

Monmouth (7-7) was ranked ninth and is expecting a prelim game this weekend.

“We’ll probably be travelling to Mt. Abram on Friday,” said Monmouth coach Gary Trafton. “We lost to them at our field 1-0.”

The Greyhounds controlled much of the game Monday, outshooting the Mustangs 23-5. Lisbon just couldn’t turn those opportunities into goals.

“Sometimes you mishit it, sometimes it goes wide or happens to go high,” said Gentle. “That’s part of the game of soccer. You’d like to get a great shot every time on the ball.”

That’s what Lawrence got early in the second half. Paige Galligan hustled after the ball on the left side. She crossed it to the middle where Haley Eck left it for Lawrence.

“Haley led the ball off to me,” said Lawrence. “I just saw an opportunity to rip it.”

Lawrence’s biggest challenge might have been not to hit her teammate. Eck was in front of Lawrence and not only provided a screen but also was nearly in the way of the shot. Lawrence lifted it high and put it under the crossbar out of reach of keeper Adriana Gonzales.

“I took one last touch,” said Lawrence. “I didn’t want to hit her.”

Monmouth produced its best opportunities in the final 10 minutes. Kylie Kemp led the charge. Kemp had a shot from the left side that deflected on goal. Lisbon goalie Alexa Harmon made the save and smothered a potential rebound. Kemp had an indirect shot blocked by Lisbon’s wall of defense and had another bid saved by Harmon. With over a minute to play, Kemp burst by three defenders and was in alone. She was knocked down but no call was made. Harmon couldn’t control the ball but a Greyhound defender cleared it.

“We just didn’t get a lot of shots,” said Trafton. “The best one we had was that long shot (by Kemp) in the first half.”

Between 12 corner kicks and the flip throws from Gabbie Ouellette, Lisbon was able to create all kinds of pressure and scoring opportunities.  The Greyhounds outshot Monmouth 10-2 in the first half.

“You’d like to score off 40 percent of your restart plays,” said Gentle. “When you have someone like Gabbie, that can throw the ball in, it skews that because every sideline throw becomes a corner kick. We could have 30 corners (or) throw-ins. It puts a lot of pressure on the other team.”

Ouellette had one toss headed  over the net by Lawrence in the first half. Then Kayla Angelico had a low shot that was saved to highlight Lisbon’s bids in the first half. Monmouth wasn’t able to get a shot on until 11:51 left in the half. The best try was a direct kick by Kemp that Harmon made a nice save on with 1:20 remaining.

“We don’t possess,” said Trafton. “We get a nice couple of touches, but we don’t really possess. We do with a team that’s a little slower and less aggressive because that gives us a little more time.”

Lisbon outshot the Mustangs 13-3 in the second half. Gonzales did a nice job in net with 10 saves overall.  After Lawrence broke the stalemate, the Greyhounds controlled play and produced a few more chances before Kemp led Monmouth’s late charge.

“We had a lot of opportunities,” said Lawrence. “I feel like we could have had more opportunities to score if we’d just put a head on the ball once in awhile, but it worked out in the end.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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