AUGUSTA — The Madison Area High School girls soccer team has made history.
Led by Raegan Cowan’s two goals — including the go-ahead goal three minutes into the second half — the Bulldogs beat Penquis Valley 3-1 on Saturday afternoon at Fuller Field to become Maine’s first girls 8-person state champion. It’s also the first state championship in program history.
“It feels so good,” said Cowan, a junior, who finished with 58 goals for the season. “All of our hard work has paid off. I’m so proud of my team.”
Ella Haynie added a goal for Madison (16-2-0).
Violet Chai had the lone goal for the Patriots, who finished 16-1-0.
Penquis kept Madison at bay during the first half, dropping back defensively to cover Cowan and the hard-charging Madison attack. Though the Bulldogs outshot the Patriots 7-1 in the first half, it was Penquis that tallied the first goal, when Chai found some room and knocked a shot past Madison goalkeeper Allison Tuscan for the 1-0 lead.
“It’s a complex game, and we had to shift our game a little bit in the second half to adapt to that,” Madison head coach Kayla Carrier said. “Seeing pressure up front is something we haven’t really seen all year. The emphasis was finding our wings, finding other opportunities on crosses and our corners and we were able to capitalize on those things.”
Madison’s Mackenzie Robbins takes the ball downfield against a Penquis Valley defender during the eight-person girls soccer state final Saturday at Cony High School in Augusta. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel
Four minutes after Chai’s goal, Madison got on the board, when Cowan managed to slip her way past the Penquis defense and knocked a shot into the net to tie the game 1-1, where it remained until halftime.
The second half belonged to Madison. Cowan tallied her 58th goal of the season just three minutes in, giving the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
“We just needed to get more 50-50 touches, win more balls and I felt like we capitalized on that,” Cowan said.
“Madison has a very solid squad, that offense is nothing to mess with,” Patriots head coach Chris Cowing said. “Hats off to Raegan. That’s player of the year material.”
Twelve minutes later, Haynie made her way to the left of Penquis keeper Brooklyn Decker and knocked a shot home for the final score.
“So much improvement (this season) overall,” Carrier said. “From where we were last year, in Class C South, these girls have put in the work for sure. They executed tonight, and that’s the best game I’ve seen in years.”
“It’s been such a fun time,” Cowan said. “With this team, we love each other. It’s such a great team, we all get along. It’s really fun to hang out with them every single day and finally top it off with a Gold Ball.”
Madison had a 14-1 shot advantage on the Patriots. Decker had eight saves for Penquis.
“I can’t say I’ve ever been more proud of a team and what they’ve put together,” Cowing said of the Patriots. “It’s the first time in almost 40 years that a Penquis team has made it to states.”
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