AUBURN — Mikayla Morin’s shots had struck so much wood so far this season, the Oxford Hills junior midfielder was bound to break out big once she started finding her range.

But Morin and the Vikings’ couldn’t have expected the career-high four goals she scored Thursday in a 4-2 win over Edward Little.

Morin scored twice in each half, including a penalty kick and free kick in the second half, as the Vikings rallied from a 2-1 deficit.

“We got away from how we play. We were kind of just kicking the ball and we finally settled down and started playing the feet,” Morin said. “

“The girls were a little tired from the emotional game we had against Mt. Ararat (Tuesday, a 1-0 OT loss), so I think we had a little lag coming in,” Oxford Hills coach Chad Truman said. “Once momentum got going, they just held it and played with emotion and heart.”

Morin went top shelf over EL goalkeeper Molly Murray (seven saves) on each of her goals, leaving the junior helpless to even get a hand on them. 

“She so deserved it. All season, she’s been ringing the post,” Truman said. “She’s been hitting them left and right, and today the ball finally went in for her.”

“Their best player played like she’s supposed to,” EL coach Craig Latuscha said. “That’s the best I’ve seen her play in three years. She’s got a great shot from outside. We talked about it before the start of the game. Unfortunately, she took advantage of the chances she got. There were three or four great shots.”

Morin’s best may have been her first, when the EL defense allowed he time to set up a high-arcing shot from about 35 yards out that dropped in just below the crossbar and gave the Vikings (4-2-2) a 1-0 lead 2:14 into the game.

“I got some space and I just kind of took advantage of it and played one in,” Morin said. “My teammates kind of expect me to take those.”

EL controlled the ball for most of the rest of the first half and it showed on the scoreboard. Calli Murray set up both goals, the first off of a corner kick to Kory Norcross that tied it at 16:28 of the first half, the second coming on nice kick by Sarah Hammond that whipped left to right around Vikings’ goalie Samantha Bickford (11 saves) and gave the Red Eddies (5-4) their only lead of the game.

Morin kicked from a little closer range for her second goal, which tied the game at 2-2 with 2:17 left in the half and seemed to shift momentum in the Vikings’ favor for good.

Morin’s penalty kick came when Oxford Hills striker Nicole Zufelt was pushed while in the box. Morin booted a line drive to the upper right corner for the lead 5:46 into the second half.

“We’ve been planning for playoffs because we’ve tied so many games, so we’ve been practicing pk’s a lot. I don’t really look at the goalkeeper. I’ll go lower, but most times, I go high,” Morin said.

Morin went high again on a direct kick with 15:10 left for the insurance goal.

The Vikings’ defense, led by Kira Dube, Lauren Emery and Paige Garcia, kept the Red Eddies’ opportunities to a minimum over the final 20 minutes. The biggest threat came just before Morin’s final goal, when Taylor Landry tried to feed Olivia Paione charging through the middle of the box, but the ball was deflected wide by an Oxford Hills’ defender.

“They were able to step to the ball and play it out. That was a key,” Truman said.

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