BATH — Christina Stuart scored two goals and Bess Howell added a goal and an assist as top-seeded Morse remained unbeaten with a 3-1 win over No. 4 Maranacook in the Western Class B girls soccer semifinals Saturday.

Stuart scored the Shipbuilders (16-0-0) first and last goals, but Howell’s was huge, coming just 1 minute, 40 seconds before halftime and Morse nursing a 1-0 lead.

“Absolutely,” said coach Steve Boyce. “We played well until the first goal, and then we kind of lost focus. But Bess’ goal brought us back, and just at the right time, right before the half.”

Leading scorer Tori Field drilled a 25-yard bullet that was leg-blocked by the defense, but it went right to Howell, who sent it right back and in for the 2-0 margin.

“That goal was really all about Tori’s first shot, and that’s the way our team is,” said Howell. “We give a consistent team effort, you can’t just focus on one player. They were trying to mark Tori real close and that means someone else will be open.”

Katie Henrikson nearly made it 3-0 in the first minute of the second half when she worked through a pair of defenders for a 10-yarder, but keeper Liz D’Angelo made a one-handed punch-out.

Hannah Clough threatened to make it a one-goal game with 23 minutes remaining when she rushed a long way down the left side but shot just over the right post, and D’Angelo kept the Black Bears (10-4-3) in it by getting a hand on a Stuart blast from the right with Henrikson looking for a rebound.

But with 6:53 to go, Stuart scored her second goal, taking a pass from Howell in the middle and nailing the top left corner from 35 yards out on the right. The shot looked just like her initial goal, which also found that little space between the goalie’s hands and the crossbar.

“I do aim for that spot,” Stuart admitted. “I like to try to drop it down just over the goalie and under the crossbar.”

Clough gave Maranacook a chance when she converted a penalty kick with 5:01 left, hitting the top left side.

The Shipbuilders’ first goal, 6:06 into the action, was created by textbook ball movement, as they moved the ball from their side of the field with a series of two-touch passing, with Stuart one-timing a Henrikson feed into the far top.

“Even though we won the first game 4-0, it was scoreless at halftime,” Stuart recalled. “So it was important to get off to a good start this time.”

“They’re a very strong defensive team,” said Maranacook coach Mike Morin, “and I knew we had to go right at them. But they’ve also got some very talented scorers, and when we fell behind, we went a little more short with our passing to try to get something going.

“We’re a very young team with five freshmen, but we don’t give up. They always work hard.”

Boys soccer

York 3, Maranacook 0: Maranacook gave top-seeded York all it could handle, but ultimately fell short in a Western B semifinal game in York.

The teams were scoreless until about 18 minutes left in the second half, when York (12-3-1) finally broke through.

“They scored three goals in like five minutes,” said Maranacook coach Don Beckwith, whose team finished 9-4-3. “They dominated us, really.”