WINTHROP — Boothbay senior goalie Emily Amaral had faced only one penalty stroke entering a key Class C North showdown Monday with Winthrop.
She faced her second in a critical situation Monday, stopping Kinli DiBiase with 2:45 remaining in regulation to preserve a 1-0 shutout — and 300th career victory for coach Donna Jordan — at Kelsey Ann Stoneton Memorial Field.
Amaral made four saves.
“I was kind of nervous because I only have (faced) one penalty shot in my entire career,” Amaral said. “The day before my first penalty shot we spontaneously started to practice them. I thank coach (Jordan) so much. We have been practicing more and more. I felt like I really stepped up tonight.”
Winthrop coach Jessica Merrill said the missed penalty stroke was just one of many squandered opportunities in the second half.
“It’s just not that one opportunity,” Merrill said. “We had lots of opportunities, but we didn’t do the little things well. We didn’t have our feet going in the right direction. If our feet were going the other way, some of those would have been goals.”
Winthrop fell to 10-1-1 while the Seahawks improved to 10-1.
Merrill says she is confident the loss will only aid her team.
“It’s been a learning process the past few games. I think we have stopped doing what we do well because we are so scared of losing,” Merrill said. “Now that we have lost, now we can play.”
The team is still trying to find chemistry without their second-leading scorer Breonna Feeney.
It was Sydney Meader who broke the scoreless tie with 19:56 remaining in the game, when she blasted a shot off a penalty corner as Chloe Arsenault sent the ball into the circle.
The Seahawks dominated penalty corners, 10-2.
“They only had two, our defense was amazing tonight,” Meader said. “We had to capitalize on the advantages we had tonight.”
Winthrop kept an eye on Meader all game, with Katie Perkins the primary defender.
While Amaral made the big stop late in the game, it wouldn’t have been as big if it weren’t for the play of Winthrop counterpart, Aiva Agri, who made three key stops in succession with about 12 minutes remaining. She also made a couple key saves late in the first half.
Agri finished with seven saves.
“We were playing a lot of defense and if it weren’t for her, our defensive play, we wouldn’t have been in it in the first half,” Merrill said. “We wouldn’t have the opportunity to do what we did in the second half.”
In the first half, both teams were trying to feel each other out as opportunities were few and far between before Boothbay started finding its groove in the final five minutes or so.
“Everyone was tentative,” Jordan said. “Both teams (were), it was so quiet, the fans, it was odd. I think it was a time of everyone feeling each other out. Seeing what adjustments we’ve been making since the last time we’ve played. It was a game of two halves.”
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