In a home game away from home on Wednesday, freshman Rylee Moulton notched her first ever hat trick as PVHS defeated Mattanawcook Academy 6-0 in girls soccer action at Harris Field in Milo.
Due to wet field conditions in Howland, the Howlers and Lynx played on the neutral site as both teams wrapped up their regular season. Penobscot Valley received their first goal about 10 minutes in, when Ellie Austin crossed a liner from the wing that got past Mattanawcook keeper Lilly Wotton and ended up at Moulton’s feet. The first shot attempt by Moulton was blocked at the goal line by Chloe Wotton, but the rebound came right back to her as she put it in the net.
The score remained 1-0 until 13 minutes before the half. The build up once again began on the left wing, where midfielder Lauren Veino sent a cross to the middle of the box to Austin. Austin quickly dropped it to Lila Cummings, who kicked it in the corner of the goal. The third and final goal of the half came off a beautiful corner kick from Emma Potter, that sailed toward the back post where Austin headed it in.
Moulton struck again midway through the second half. The play started with Cummings making a cross from the corner of the 18 yard line to Holly Loring. Loring quickly one-touched the ball to the middle, where Moulton redirected it through the collapsing defenders then past goalie Kaylyn Cloukey. Her last goal came off another Potter corner kick, in which Cloukey got a hand on but couldn’t corral it. Moulton was there to put the rebound away and complete her hat trick. The final goal of the day came from Savannah Durost, who received a pass from Loring then chipped it over the keepers head and into the net.
With the win, Penobscot Valley closed out the regular season unbeaten at 13-0-1. They have outscored their opponents 89-5, and have seven girls that have scored at least seven goals on the season. Their freshmen played a big part in the scoring, notching nearly half (44 of the 89) of the team goals. Lauryn Smart, also a freshman, saved three of four shots for the winners. The Howlers await the final heal point results, but know that they will be hosting a quarterfinal game next week.
Mattanawcook Academy drops to 6-8 on the season, as goalkeepers Wotton and Cloukey combined to save 24 of 39 shots.
