AUBURN —   Coaches envision a play happening. Players, well have their own vision too.

St. Dominic Academy girls’ soccer coach Kathy Little signaled one thing, but Marley Byrne and Kelley McLellan executed the only goal as the Saints defeated the Sacopee Valley Hawks, 1-0, in a Western Class C quarterfinal matchup.

After a corner kick, the Saints were given another corner kick as Sacopee deflected the ball out of bounds. Little wanted McLellan to take the corner, but Byrne took it and passed it to McLellan. McLellan dropped the ball back to Byrne who fired it from the top of the box into the net with 18:26 remaining in the game.

“It wasn’t the set play that we practiced,” said St. Dom’s head coach Kathy Little. “It worked and we’ll take it.”

“I though my coach was calling a different play,” said Marley Byrne. “I thought she was looking for me to look for Kelley and not let Kelley take (the corner). It was a play that we have worked on, but we never really have done it in a game.”

The Hawks desperately tried to send the game into overtime, and they almost got the equalizer ten minutes later on a chip shot . Saints goalkeeper Kelly Pomerleau was able to leap and get a hand on it before it went under the crossbar.

“We worked on those (types of saves) in the last warm-up piece,” Little stated. “I lob balls to her and she punches them over the net for the height ones. That’s what exactly what we have practiced.”

Pomerleau agreed.

“It was pretty routine,” said Kelly Pomerleau on her save at the end of the game. “You play how you practice.”

It was a slow start for the Saints to start the game not generating much offensive chances in the first 20 minutes.

Little said the early struggles were due to inexperience in the playoffs

“We had a lot of jitters coming into the first playoff game,” added Little. “We have a lot of players who have not been in (a playoff) game before.”

The Hawks (7-5-4) came out of halftime on the offensive.

“We went a little more offensively in the second half,” said Sacopee coach Kevin Murray. “We went away from playing in the middle of the field. It took off the pressure off our (defense).”

Little sees a strong team going forward for the Hawks.

“I think they had collected themselves (in the second half) and they started to play a possession style of game, which they play a lot in the Western Conference” said Little. “That group is a very talented core right there.”

Murray is excited for the future too.

“We will grab a hold of these girls, regroup and we may be here or have them come down to see us in the playoffs.”

The Saints (13-1-1) will take on Monmouth Academy (13-2) at home  on Saturday at 11 a.m. in a Western Class C semifinal game.