AUGUSTA — The Erskine Academy girls soccer team has come a long way since losing to Cony the third game of the season.

The Eagles showed just how far they had come when the teams met in a rematch Tuesday and they dominated the Rams in a 2-0 win.

At 7-6-3, Erskine is firmly entrenched in the Eastern Maine Class A tournament picture while Cony, at 6-7-0, will need a little help to reach the playoffs.

“I think we came out today wanting to win that back,” Erskine’s Jade Canek said of the 3-1 loss to the Rams in their first meeting. “We weren’t going to let that happen again.”

Canek scored both goals in the second half, playing a pass from Avery Bond off her body to make it 1-0 with 26 minutes, 11 seconds left to play.

“Avery played it to me and it was just barely going to go in front of the goalie,” Canek said. “I stepped in front of the goalie and played it off my chest.”

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With senior Bridget Humphrey dominating much of the action at midfield, the Eagles controlled the ball if not the scoreboard throughout the game.

“Bridget Humphrey had a much bigger impact in the midfield controlling it than she did in the first game,” Cony coach Jeff Hersey said. “We kept her in check the first time. We didn’t let her receive the ball without a body on her. She’s too good to allow her to just receive it because she can tear you up with her passing.”

The Rams managed five shots on goal to 10 for the Eagles. Their best chance came early in the second half when leading scorer Emily Quirion drilled a point-blank shot that keeper Paige Leary jumped in front of. Cony picked up its pace over the final 40 minutes but so did Erskine.

“Our passing game’s come miles,” Erskine coach Ryan Nored said. “When we took our time and we relaxed, we made good passes.”

Canek made it 2-0 with six minutes left with a strong individual move. It began when Humphrey launched a booming pass from her end of the field deep into Cony territory. Canek gained control along the end line and beat two Cony defenders before putting a shot into the bottom corner of the net past Cony keeper Autumn Sudsbury (six saves).

“That second goal was the nicest goal I’ve seen from her this year,” Nored said.

Both sweepers — Cony’s Olivia Deeves and Erskine’s Courtney Bonsant — played strong defensive games.

Gary Hawkins — 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com


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