Oxford Hills’ Julia Colby works the ball past Mt. Blue defender Gretchen Huish late in the first half of the game played at the Gouin Complex in South Paris.Mt. Blue’s Courtney Richard (40), Sierra Keim (middle) and Oxford Hills’ Emily Wallace (16) battle for the ball during a Class A girls’ soccer game in South Paris on Tuesday. The Vikings won, 4-0.Oxford Hills’ Bailey Whitney (12) looks on as Mt. Blue’s Kayla Legrand (4) blasts the ball past Oxford Hills’ Lauren Merrill (2) during a Class A girls’ soccer game in South Paris on Tuesday. The Vikings won, 4-0.
PARIS — The rain, wind and thunder took its time getting here, but Oxford Hills’ offense was swift and decisive in a KVAC Class A North girls’ soccer game Tuesday.
After a few claps of thunder and the presence of ominous, dark clouds that eventually closed out the sun, the game was suspended with 29 minutes left to play in the second half, with the Vikings (1-1) eventually sailing off with 4-0 victory over Mt. Blue High School (0-2).
According to the Maine Principal’s Association’s 2017 soccer bulletin: “Games suspended in the first half will be replayed in their entirety. If termination of the game occurs at any point after the completion of the first half, the game is considered complete.”
Oxford Hills coach Chad Truman was pleased with the Vikings’ scoring prowess.
“We have seen a lot of that in preseason, and playing a lot of local teams, and we could score,” Truman said. “I liked the passing at times. We kind of go as our passing goes. When we are passing well and possessing the ball, things go our way.”
While inclement weather was sneaking up on the teams, the Vikings’ Ceceila Dietrich was punching holes in Mt. Blue’s offense. She turned in a hat trick and her first two goals were of the back-to-back variety.
Dietrich punched in the first goal at 28:45 of the first half, with Julia Colby getting the assist.
A handball penalty called on the Cougars at 14:35 after the keeper touched the ball outside the box. That led to a direct kick for Oxford Hills. Dietrich took the shot and blasted the ball into the net for her second goal.
“She has been fantastic,” Truman said. “She controls the middle of the field. Her counterpart in the middle of the field went down with a concussion so I have had other girls subbing in. They are starting to figure it out. It seams to be working well now.”
With the faint sound of thunder off in the distance, the Cougars got their second wind and did their best to put the ball in the net in the second half.
“We had a great start in the second half. I was excited,” Mt. Blue coach Fred Conlogue said. We were in on the goalie, just didn’t put it on the goal. Just lacking the finisher at this point with our leading scorer out.
“Just didn’t come off the bus playing well today.”
Assistant Cougars coach Griffin Conlogue echoed his father’s thoughts.
“We don’t feel that that’s a reflection of our quality as a squad,” he said. “Moving forward, we are going to have to make some changes and some adjustments cause that is not the team that we have and that’s not the team we expect to show up with every day.”
But the Vikings had little difficulty scoring a pair of goals in the first 10 minutes of final stanza.
Colby scored this time, with Dietrich getting the assist at 34:11. About five minutes later, Caroline Burns fed Dietrich the ball and the senior midfielder scored her third goal.
For the day, the Vikings outshout the Cougars, 17-5. Mt. Blue goalies Mackenzie Libby and Rachel Spear combined for nine saves, while Oxford Hills netminder Jillian Douglass collected four saves.
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