Auburn, ME - A young Central Maine Mustangs Women's Soccer team eager to prove themselves took on USCAA Division I powerhouse University of Maine at Fort Kent in their season opener in front of a good crowd in Auburn. With a bigger roster of very versatile players, the Mustangs were excited to open their season against such a high level opponent. Although the Bengals were clearly the more experienced team, the game did not disappoint. The Mustangs plan to aggressively attack the Bengal net did not yield results on the scoreboard but it did result in end to end play in the first half. Fort Kent dominated the time of possession throughout the game but Central Maine refused to lay back and just play defense, they continued to look for opportunities to push forward. Just past the midpoint of the first half the Bengals got on the scoreboard with a goal by Chelsea Thornburgh, assisted by Julia Audunsdottir. That would be the only scoring in the first half.
The second half began with Fort Kent in control and it took them less than two minutes into the half to gain a 2-0 lead on an unassisted goal by Dora Cacari. It would be another thirty minutes before Fort Kent would score again off a misjudged corner kick by Sage Stroud that Mustang keeper Emma Johnson (Monmouth, ME) valiantly tried to keep out of the net but was drilled home by Aiso Aikhionbare. Ten minutes later Central Maine got on the scoreboard when a direct kick by Kaitlyn Baker (Skowhegan, ME) was headed into the net by Lakyn Hink (Porter, ME) for her first goal of the season. Aikhionbare would score her second goal less than a minute later when a Mustang defender made a pass that was intercepted by Chelsea Thornburgh who slipped it to her teammate to give the Bengals their fourth and final goal of the game.
The game ended 4-1 in favor of Fort Kent. Bengal goalkeeper Isabel Kiledjian made 4 saves on 5 shots on goal for the win and Johnson made 21 saves to take the loss. Mustangs head coach Rob Rodriguez commented "playing a team of the caliber of UMFK in our season opener will eventually be seen as part of our learning process as a team. We want to play the best teams we can get on our schedule because they make us better and there are lessons that we will carry forward from this game. Having said that, I feel there are parts of the game, particularly on offense, where we could have been a lot better and maybe the end result is a one or two goal differential instead of 3 so we will review that and get back to work."
Central Maine continues it's homestand with in-state rival Southern Maine Community College coming to Auburn on Thursday, September 8 for a 6 pm kickoff.
