DEXTER— Emma Campbell scored two second half goals to help the Central Red Devils girls soccer team hold off a second half surge from the Dexter Tigers and get a 6-5 win on Wednesday afternoon.
Sydney Allen got the scoring started for the Red Devils with 32:14 left in the first half when she put the ball in the back of the net after taking a pass from Grace Francis.
The Tigers evened the score when Kayli Cunningham put a throw in near the goal, and freshman Cloe Mountain took the throw and kicked it in the goal.
The score remained tied for only 2 minutes and 44 seconds, as the Red Devils took a lead they would not give back when a ball went off a Dexter defender into their own goal. Freshman Abi Allen got credited for the goal.
Francis got her second assist of the game when she set up Marie Schuster with 11:23 remaining in the first half. Abi Allen finished the scoring in the first half when she took a rebound off Tigers goalie Reaghan Patterson and knocked it in the goal with her right foot. Abi’s older sister Sydney Allen is a junior leader for the Red Devils.
“She (Abi) does good, she knows how to crash the goal. She started pretty early on that,”Sydney Allen said. “It took me a while to get used to that, she knows how to do that right away.”
The Red Devils kept their three goal lead until Hannah Dorman scored for the Tigers with 31:12 remaining in the second half. Cunningham cut the deficit to 4-3 with 20:45 remaining,
Campbell gave the Red Devils a 5-3 lead when she scored an assist from Schuster with 12:12 left on the clock. Jasmine Woodard cut the deficit to 5-4 with 10:56 remaining. Campbell added the insurance goal that the Red Devils needed with 4:08 left. Ashley Reynolds scored for the Tigers with 45 seconds left.
“They (Dexter) got more aggressive, I don’t think we were ready for that,”Central coach Rick Speed said. “The 4-1 lead at halftime, they think they had the game won. Any team we play, we have to play a two half game.”
The Tigers have averaged 5.5 goals through two games. They showed their offensive capability with a strong second half.
“We had some breakdowns in the first half. Gave up a own goal, several missed kicks,”Dexter coach Jody Grant said. “It is two halves, as much as you are disappointed with how the first half was, I am equally happy with the way we competed in the second half.”
Patterson finished with 10 saves on 18 shots. Red Devils goalie Rachel Smith recorded four saves on 11 shots. Both teams will be on the road against a tough opponent on Friday. Dexter (1-1) will play at Penquis. Central (2-0) will be at Orono.
