WATERVILLE — After four successive early exits from the playoffs, the Messalonskee girls soccer team feels like it has something to prove. On Tuesday night at Thomas College, the Eagles began making their point.
No. 3 Messalonskee scored three times in a span of 17 minutes in the first half and rolled to a 6-0 shutout of No. 6 Oxford Hills in a Class A North quarterfinal at Smith Field. Senior Edin Sisson scored a pair of goals after halftime to put things away, and classmate Anika Elias added a goal and an assist.
Caitlin Parks, Cloe Sisson and Shauna Clark also scored for Messalonskee (14-1-0), which led 4-0 at halftime. Keeper Hannah Delgiudice needed just three saves to post the shutout for the Eagles’ 14th straight win following a season-opening loss to Camden Hills.
The Eagles will meet either No. 2 Brunswick or No. 7 Skowhegan in the regional semifinals.
“It was one of those games where this senior class had something to prove,” Messalonskee head coach Chris Delgiudice said. “The last three years they’ve made it here and lost here. They definitely came out with a little chip on their shoulders thinking this is the year we’re going to do this. We’ve had that mentality all year.”
Messalonskee lost in the Class A North quarterfinals in each of its previous four postseason appearances, from 2014-17.
The game was halted for more than 20 minutes late in the second half following a nasty collision between Parks and Oxford Hills goalkeeper Jillian Douglas. The two clashed while chasing a loose ball near the Viking goal line. Parks was down for a few minutes before getting to her feet under her own power, while Douglas was taken off the field in an ambulance after remaining down for most of the duration of the delay.
Oxford Hills coach Chad Truman had little information following the game.
“It looks like it may be a concussion, but it’s probably too early to say,” Truman said.
The Vikings (8-5-2), who played a tight game against Messalonskee in the regular season finale eight days earlier, pushed early to start before the Eagles’ speed began to create problems for the visitors.
Elias was became an immediate factor after entering the game from the bench in the 10th minute, setting up Parks for a 1-0 lead just five minutes later and scoring herself in the 27th minute.
Cloe Sisson added a third on 32 minutes, and Messalonskee was off and rolling.
“Their speed, they’re just amazing,” Truman said. “Three goals on breakaways, they’d just play in behind us and run by us. We couldn’t keep up with them.”
“We had to figure out what they were doing defensively and then figure out how to get around it,” Delgiudice said. “They all know that at the end of the day, as long as we keep doing our jobs and keep moving the ball the way we can, it’s going to come around in the end.”
Elias’ impact on the game continued in the second half, when she earned a penalty for the Eagles in the 53rd minute. Injured on the play, she gave way to Edin Sisson and Sisson converted the spot kick without any drama.
Sisson collected her brace three minutes later.
“We were doing a really good job of working from the back and through the midfield,” Edin Sisson said. “In the second half, I think we were better at going back out wide and getting those crosses in.”
Given the dominant play of center back Ella Moore, Edin Sisson at central midfield and strikers Elias and Cloe Sisson, the Eagles’ strength through the middle of the pitch made even a six-goal lead feel larger than it was.
Given the three previous early playoff exits for Messalonskee’s senior class, the Eagles weren’t ready to rest on a big lead.
“I didn’t want to take anything for granted,” Edin Sisson said. “I just wanted to get as many as we could in.”
Travis Barrett — 621-5621
tbarrett@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @TBarrettGWC
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