South Portland, ME - Both soccer teams headed up to Maine on Saturday to take on SMCC in a doubleheader for what would become an exciting afternoon.
The girls played first, kicking off at 1 pm. Right from kickoff, the Seawolves were on the attack registering 11 shots in the first half, compared to only 2 for the Panthers. Despite the shooting difference, the Panthers found themselves down by only 1 point at the half. Coming out of the halftime break, the Panthers struggles' continued as Jadyn Eastman of SMCC scored a goal to extend the Seawolves lead to 2. In their previous two games this season, the Panthers proved they were a strong second half team and still had eyes on the prize. Twenty minutes after falling down 2-0, 5th year Raegan Wendel (Clifton Park, NY) set up teammate Julia Roemer (Latham, NY) to score her 88th career goal, the second most in school history! Then about twelve minutes after that, freshman Ailani Aleman-Rivera scored her second career goal to tie the game at 2 apiece! Unfortunately the tie score would last for only a few minutes as Jordyn Condon of the Seawolves drilled a penalty kick with less than 3 minutes left to ice the game for the Seawolves by a score of 3-2. As heartbreaking as it was, it was only the first loss of the season for the Panthers.
After the conclusion of the women's game, the men took the field against the Seawolves. Unlike the first game, this one was a lot more back and forth between the two teams, with both sides registering 10 shots each in the first half. The difference? Sahil Arora. The Panthers star from Waterford, NY scored a goal with about ten minutes left in the first half to secure a 1-0 halftime lead. However, the Seawolves came out of the half dominating the ball with much more physicality. The second half alone saw 7 total yellow cards and a red card, most of which were on the Seawolves. Using the physicality to their advantage, the Seawolves scored twice on 12 shots compared to just 2 shots for the Panthers halfway through the period. Frustration and desperation then set in for the Panthers as they frantically tried to tie the game, but ultimately fell short, losing the game by a score of 2-1.
It was a heartbreaking loss for both teams on Saturday afternoon as they'll return home with a few days of rest ahead. The women's team has just over a week off until their next game on 9/29 against NHTI while the men's next contest is on Tuesday 9/24 at Union College.
How to follow the Panthers: For the latest information on ACPHS athletics, visit acphspanthers.com or check out the ACPHS athletics social media platforms on Instgram @ACPHSPanthers or X @ACPHSAthletics.
Written by Angelo Oddo.
