ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine women’s soccer team will have the opportunity to make it two America East tournament titles in a row on Sunday after parlying a first-half goal by Kayla Kraemer and a second-half tally by sophomore midfielder Abbey Thornton into a 2-0 semifinal win over UMass Lowell at Mahaney Diamond Thursday night.
Top seed UMaine, which won the league’s regular season title for the first time, is now 12-1-3 overall and will host arch-rival New Hampshire, 12-4-1, in Sunday’s 3 p.m. championship game.
Second seed UNH rallied to beat Binghamton 3-1.
UMaine extended its unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1) and its home unbeaten string to 26 games (16-0-10).
UMass Lowell finished up at 6-10-3.
UMaine had a 16-5 edge in shot attempts and with a 10-1 advantage in shots on goal.
Freshman goalkeeper Grace Wilson, who was called into action when Jessica Kasacek wasn’t available due to a family emergency, made one save in posting the shutout.
Taylor Burgess made eight saves for UMass Lowell.
The Black Bears had the lion’s share of possession and swarmed the ball, giving the River Hawks very little time and space with it.
“It really starts from the top. When our forwards and midfielders are putting so much pressure on them like they did today, it makes our job easy at the back,” said UMaine graduate student fullback and tri-captain Emma Schneider. “It comes down to our team energy and how much we want it. I love that.”
Schneider not only had a strong defensive game, she set up the first goal.
She worked a give-and-go with Jordane Pinette down the right flank deep in UMass Lowell territory. Pinette placed a low pass for her that Schneider was able to run on to a yard from the end line before she zipped a low cross that snaked across the penalty area.
“I saw her cross but I didn’t expect it to come to my foot. I thought Abby (sister Abby Kraemer) would get it before me but it came to me and I just hit it and it went in. It was a great ball from Emma,” said Kayla Kraemer, who was positioned in the middle of the penalty area eight yards from goal.
It was her fourth goal of the season and came just 4:54 into the game.
UMass Lowell got off to a good start in the second half and All-America East second team choice and leading scorer Calliste Brookshire had their only shot on goal with a half-volley from the top of the penalty area that Wilson snared out of the air diving to her right.
“I didn’t see the net, honestly. I was just trying to get anything I could on it,” said Brookshire. “It ended up in the ‘keeper’s hands.”
“I saw congestion at the top of the box and there was a player free,” said Australian Under-20 International Wilson. “It came in pretty close to me so I was able to get my hands out and hold the ball.”
Windham’s Thornton came off the bench and gave the Black Bears some welcome breathing room with 21:32 left after taking a pass from another substitute, Gillian Rovers.
“(Rovers) chased the ball down and gave me a really good cross,” said Thornton. “I did my best to get around it and my shot went inside the near post.”
It was her third goal of the season and she said being from Maine and helping the team get the win felt good.
Lara Kirkby also assisted on the goal.
“Our team came really prepared,” said UMaine head coach Scott Atherley. “We knew it was a game where the ball would be in the air (from UMass Lowell). We had to defend their set pieces (and we did). Other than their set pieces, they didn’t trouble us. We did a really good job keeping the ball on the ground and we were able to play right through them.”
“Maine had a strong showing today and we came out flat in the first half,” said UMass Lowell coach Mira Novak. “They scored early and that helped them. Maine outplayed us today. They were pretty hungry on our set pieces and were able to create a lot of first contact.”
“They’re a great team. We knew it was going to be a battle. We came up a bit short,” said Brookshire.
