Mustangs Fall Flat in Quarterfinal Loss to Seawolves

Auburn, ME – The CMCC Women's Soccer season came to a close on Saturday night after a 4-1 loss at home to SMCC in the YSCC East Division Quarterfinals. The #3 seeded Seawolves scored three times in the first 27 minutes to all but put the game away, pulling off the upset of the #2 seeded Mustangs. Lily Caban had the lone goal for Central Maine in the final minute of the first half. Jocelyn Civiello had a hand in each of the visitors' tallies, finishing with two goals and two assists.

"It's a disappointing way to end the season," said head coach Rob Rodriguez. "Congratulations to SMCC and good luck to them the rest of the way. We'll learn from this and be back ready to go next year."

The Mustangs had to wait through a longer than usual pregame to get started. The team honored its ten graduating players, Haley Wing, Gloria San Pedro, Lily Caban, Alaynah LeBlond, Sarah Labbe, Heather Nelson, Olivia Varney, Ksenya Sorterup, Milena Strickland, and Emma Koch, prior to the game, after the team's originally scheduled senior night was canceled with VTSU-Randolph forfeiting the remainder of its season. Along with all-conference acknowledgements and starting lineups, it meant the team had 25 minutes on the sideline before kickoff.

They also suffered a tough blow just three minutes into the first half. Team captain and YSCC All-Conference defender Bianca Gilmore went down with an injury and was out for the remainder of the night. Sorterup nearly gave the hosts the lead after five minutes with a hard shot that smacked against the crossbar, but she too picked up an injury three minutes later that ended her game early.

SMCC went in front just seconds after the restart. Alexis Kelsea played a ball into the area from the right sideline for Civiello. Her initial pass was blocked by Meghan Remington, but she poked a second chance to the edge of the six-yard box for captain Annabelle Fournier to rifle a left footed effort into the top corner.

Civiello made it 2-0 in the 25^th minute with her first goal of the night. Isabella Tanis played a pass ahead to Civiello who marched her way forward. With the defense backing up, she had time to pick her spot while inside the box, sliding a shot into the bottom corner past a diving Devyn Eliasen.

Two minutes later it was 3-0. Civiello beat her marker down the right wing and got to the end line before floating a perfectly placed cross into the area. It found the head of Tanis who guided her header down from point blank range. Eliasen got a hand to it, but not enough to keep it out of the back of the net.

The Mustangs continued to push forward and had the majority of possession throughout the opening 45 minutes, struggling though to find the final pass to unlock the Seawolves' defense. The breakthrough finally came in the final minute. San Pedro delivered a great cross that set up Caban with a shot from the top of the box. Her dipping volley was saved by the diving Aubrey Gilbert, but the rebound stayed in play off to the right. Varney got to the loose ball and centered it for Caban to tap into the empty net. The junior midfielder's sixth career goal made it 3-1 and gave Central Maine some hope heading into the second half.

That hope was quickly extinguished though. Southern Maine controlled the pace of play in the second half and found the dagger in the 53^rd minute. Amya Braley launched a free kick from just inside her own half that caught out the Mustangs' back line, sending Civiello free in on goal. The junior from Sanford, ME took her time before guiding a shot to the far post, nestling the ball in the side netting for a 4-1 lead.

From there, SMCC held their hosts at arm's length, limiting CMCC to long-range shots to see out the upset victory. The Mustangs ended with an 18-12 edge in total shots, with Gilbert finishing with nine saves, mostly on efforts from distance, to pick up the win.

For CMCC, the team's season ends with a 5-7-4 overall record. The squad put together a 5-2-3 mark in conference play and had some great moments like a pair of shutout wins against UMaine-Augusta, a come-from-behind effort at home against Word of Life, and a first-ever result against USCAA DI squad UMaine-Fort Kent with a 1-1 tie.

The Seawolves now move on to the YSCC Semifinals against the #1 seed from the West Division, the ACPHS Panthers. That game will be played in Auburn next Saturday, November 1^st, with the YSCC Championship game set for Sunday between the winner of that contest and the victor of NHTI and Word of Life in the other semifinal.