At Howland Friday night, Penobscot Valley and Penquis Valley squared off in the girls soccer season opener for both teams.
Penobscot Valley honored their six seniors before the game, adding another twist to an already unusual season. Seniors are normally honored in their last home game of the season. Both teams have practiced for only nine days and neither school has played a competitive match since last season.
Penobscot Valley had high hopes of returning to another State Final, but are very happy to at least have a season. Penobscot carried possession most of the first half, but found Penquis to be a young but very athletic squad. Both sides battled scoreless through 40 minutes, with Penobscot Valley holding a 19-2 shot advantage.
The home squad finally broke the deadlock 11 minutes into the 2nd half as senior Emma Buck converted her free kick from the penalty stripe. Junior Ali Gilman secured the victory when she sent a rocket past the Penquis goalkeeper to give Penobscot Valley a two-goal lead. Minutes later sophomore Kaya Loring used some nifty footwork to feed the ball in to a cutting Delaney Theriault. Theriault received the ball, before turning and sending the low liner past the keeper. Penobscot Valley held on for the 3-0 victory as Emilee Ireland earned the shutout, stopping all three shots she faced. Penquis netminder Hope Lovell had a superb game finishing with 17 saves on 21 shots.
