By Ernie Clark, Special to the BDN
BANGOR, Maine — One of the most important moments of many of Saturday’s state championship soccer games occurred before the first kick was taken.
That involved the coin flip to determine in which direction each participating team would play in the first half.
The North Yarmouth Academy girls soccer team combined a winning call of the pre-game coin flip with the skill to turn playing with the wind at its back for the first 40 minutes into four unanswered goals to earn a 4-0 victory over Fort Kent and win the Class C state title.
“The coin toss was really important for us,” said NYA freshman forward Delphine Daniel, who scored three goals to pace the Panthers to the 12th gold ball in program history, eighth in Class C. “We were very lucky that we were able to start the game with the wind but also realizing that a lot of our normal game play with high through balls into the wind wasn’t going to work.”
Daniel gave NYA (15-3) a 1-0 lead in the opening two minutes with a cross that was re-directed into the net off a Fort Kent defender.
“It was a long ball from my midfield and I was able to come across into the box to it. I was going for a cross but it was deflected by one of their backs and went in,” she said.
Daniel scored again midway through the period from the goal crease in the immediate aftermath of a corner kick, with teammate Caroline Matusovich making it 3-0 with 9:56 left before intermission with a left-footed shot past Fort Kent goalie Anna Durost from about 20 yards out after taking a crossing pass from Alicia Fontana.
Daniel capped off her big first half two minutes later, using her body to ward off a Fort Kent defender as she was accepting a pass from Isabelle Hinkley, then spinning and scoring into the left side of the net from about 20 yards away.
“The coin flip was a big deal today but it wasn’t in our hands, it was their call {as the visiting team],” Fort Kent coach Mindy Forino said. “They won the coin toss and they were smart and decided to go with the wind in the first half. I would have done the same thing.
“With the way my girls play, if we can put one into the net early it really sets the tone for the game and then we could have packed it in and defended, but it wasn’t our flip today. It’s just the way it goes.”
Fort Kent was appearing in its sixth state final in the last 13 seasons and seeking its first gold ball since 2018.
The Warriors concluded their season with a 15-3 record.
Fort Kent managed just one shot on goal in the first half, but with the wind at their backs the Warriors generated several serious chances after intermission, with Reese Doucette and Madeline Martin challenging NYA goalkeeper Sadie Morgan and other shots hitting the crossbar and left goal post.
But Morgan preserved the shutout, NYA’s ninth of the season.
“It feels amazing,” Daniel said. “It’s something we’ve been looking forward to all season. We knew it was going to be a hard game but to come out on top is amazing.”
