SOUTH CHINA — Cony scored three first half goals and played outstanding defense in the second half on its way to a 3-1 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A girls soccer win over Erskine on Saturday.

Cony (2-1) went on the attack right from the opening kickoff, rushing downfield with attackers Emily Quirion and Josie Lee working the ball along the left side. A quick turn and shot by Quirion deflected across the goalmouth where Cony’s Sara Smith redirected it into the net just 42 seconds into the game.

“We were really motivated to win this game,” Lee said. “We are pretty quick through the middle and we wanted to get off to a good start.”

Lee made it 2-0 when she tucked in a pass from Lindsey Folsom from eight yards out to give the Rams a 2-0 lead at 27:17 of the first half.

“That’s been our season, so far,” said Erskine coach Ryan Nored, whose team falls to 1-2-0. “The first half of every game has been tough for us.”

Cony continued to use its short passing game while playing into a strong wind and scored a third goal at 22:23 when Folsom tipped in a rebound from close range.
Just before the half, the Eagles were awarded a penalty kick. With 2:44 left, Bridget Humphrey took the PK, which hit the cross bar.

Erskine carried the play for the majority of the second half, outshooting the Rams 12-4.
“The strength of our team is the defense,” Cony coach Jeff Hersey said. “We did an excellent job in the second half against their pressure.”

Erskine had a solid opportunity to cut into the Rams lead midway through the second half when Kelly McCormac unleashed a hard shot from the left side that rocked the post. The rebound fell to Erskine’s Rebecca Reed, who sent the ball just over the cross bar.

“Erskine came at us hard in the second half,” Cony keeper Autumn Sudsbury said. “They had fresh legs from all the substituting they were doing but our defense came up big.”

Sudsbury received outstanding defensive support from her back line of Alexis Dostie, Alyssah Dennett and Olivia Deeves.

Erskine finally found the mark with 7:01 left in the game when McCormac calmly hit a penalty kick into the right corner.

“We played a good second half,” Nored said. “We didn’t give up and kept working hard even when we were down three goals.”

Erskine finished the game with an 18-10 shot advantage. Erskine keeper Paige Leary made five saves, while Sudsbury stopped six.

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