ELLSWORTH — Freshman midfielder Katey Curtis electrified Ellsworth fans, and her teammates, on Friday when she settled the ball at midfield, dribbled her way past several Old Town defenders and beat goalkeeper Annie Cashon with a shot that found the net.
The goal, coming with 23:35 remaining in the second half, was the only one of the game and lifted the eighth-ranked Eagles to a 1-0 Class B preliminary playoff win over the ninth-ranked Coyotes.
The Eagles played the first half with a strong wind at their backs, but couldn’t take advantage.
The game was a defensive gem for the Eagles.
“They did an amazing job,” said Ellsworth coach Jen Myers of the Eagle backfield.
Freshman midfielder Kaiti Kinney, who drew the tough assignment of marking Old Town standout Katie Deshane, “just frustrated her — took her right out of the game,” said Myers.
“And Taylor White did an awesome job sweeping. She stopped a lot of potential runs.”
The only serious scoring threat by the Coyotes occurred moments after Curtis scored for Ellsworth.
It came when Deshane placed a corner kick into the penalty box and teammate Ashley Abbott lined a shot that bounced off the crossbar.
The run to the goal by Curtis was a shocker.
“It’s amazing, because that doesn’t usually happen in high school games,” said Myers. “She just went right up the center through everybody.
“It’s like a magnet — the ball and her foot,” said Myers of Curtis. “Her touches are so soft and she keeps it right there.”
The Eagles and the Coyotes had played to double-overtime ties in the previous two meetings this season.
“I was hoping for more goals,” said Myers, “but the way the other two games were, it was almost bound to be decided by one goal.
“That was a great win.”