LISBON — With six games remaining in the regular season, the Lisbon High School girls’ soccer team had a .500 record, coming off lopsided setbacks to Madison and Monmouth Academy.

Since then, Jenniffer Perron’s squad has found that confident swagger, rolling off six straight wins, including Friday’s 2-0 Class C South preliminary win over 10th-seeded Carrabec.

Next up for the seventh-seeded Greyhounds is a road quarterfinal against No. 2 Madison on Tuesday, while the Cobras saw their season end with a 7-5-3 mark.

Perron points to a more focused group of players in practice that has led to Lisbon’s turnaround.

“I was disappointed with the intensity inside practice, and that was made clear and they heard me,” said Perron. “To come out and go hard in the games, we have to go hard in practice. It wasn’t there in the beginning. It has clicked and here we are.”

It was Emma Houle that staked Lisbon to a 1-0 lead. Destiney Deschaines brought the ball up the field and sent a pass toward Carrabec goaltender Ashley Cates. A four-player collision freed the ball from Cates’ grasp, with Houle able to take control and score into the vacated cage.

“My coach always says to stay far post, and I was there to pop it in,” said Houle of her goal with 7:43 left in the first half. “I had the feeling the whistle was going to come, but I finished and hoped for the best. Kiley (Merritt), Giana (Russo) and Destiney up front, we work well together.”

Carrabec had scoring opportunities in the first half, mostly off free kicks from Bailey Dunphy and Skyler Chipman. Lisbon goaltender Savannah Fisher made six of her eight saves in that opening 40 minutes.

Second half

Carrabec pushed forward early in the second frame, looking for the tying goal. However, Greyhound defenders Siara Martin, Anna Willey, Makenzey Bedford, Caitlyn Hall and Zoe Feehan kept most Cobra runs away from scoring areas.

“They knew coming in that Carrabec was going to push up and make those rotations, and we played focused,” said Perron. “There are times they come in at the half, we tell them what to do, then they go out and forget. They came out, learned, and just knew what they needed to do.”

“We came together as a team and played together the way that we can play,” said Martin. “They wanted to win, but we wanted it just as bad. They pushed harder in the second half, but we stood up. That second goal made it a lot easier for us.”

That second goal came with 7:23 remaining in regulation as Deschaines found Kiley Merritt in front of the Carrabec goal. Merritt sidestepped a defender before slipping a shot past Cates, who had a dozen saves.

Lisbon outshot Carrabec, 19-10, and held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Now comes a Madison team that handed the Greyhounds a 5-0 setback at Lisbon on Sept. 22. Perron feels her team is ready.

“We played our tougher games earlier in the season, so we haven’t seen that intensity like we will see with Madison,” Perron said. “Tuesday, we have a challenge in front of us, but I feel we are ready for it.”

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