By Larry Mahoney, BDN Staff ; Aug. 31, 2012, Posted 8:09 p.m. at ORONO, Maine
Senior midfielder Elise Tilton of John Bapst Memorial High School knows she has to pick up the scoring slack left by her older sister, Emily, who has taken her talents to the University of Vermont.
Elise Tilton posted the first four scores on Friday as the Crusaders of Bangor beat Orono 6-0 at the University of Maine’s artificial turf field.
This comes after she scored all three goals in a 3-2 overtime win over Stearns High of Millinocket on Wednesday.
Emily Tilton scored 36 goals for the 13-3 Crusaders a year ago.
John Bapst improved to 2-0 while the youthful Red Riots fell to 0-2.
“I definitely have to be less of a passer and more of a scorer now that our big scorer is gone,” conceded Elise Tilton, who had 23 goals and 19 assists a year ago.
“That’s what we really need now that Emily is gone,” said John Bapst senior forward-midfielder Christina Long, who had the other two goals. “Elise used to set Emily and other people up. Now Elise is the one who scores.”
“Elise is thinking more about shooting first [rather than passing] this year,” said John Bapst coach Gina Schuck.
Tilton opened the scoring just 39 seconds into the game as a Courtney Prue pass deflected over to her in the middle of the circle and she cleanly beat Orono goalie Jessica Miller with a well-placed shot.
Tilton expanded the lead 42 seconds later when she gathered in the ball in the circle and slipped a knee-high shot past the left pad of Miller.
She made it 3-0 7:34 later with a pretty weaving move and a powerful shot past a helpless Miller.
The University of Pennsylvania-bound Tilton notched her fourth goal 50 seconds into the second half off an Amelia Pellegrini pass.
Long made it 5-0 with 26:50 remaining with a nice move in the circle and an accurate shot to Miller’s right.
She capped the scoring with 11:45 remaining as she shoveled the rebound of a Haley Hughes shot into an open net.
Karen Noble made one save on three shots for John Bapst while Miller finished with seven saves on 20 shots.
Noble’s save was a gem as she raced out of her net and stacked her pads to smother a shot from speedy and talented Sherraiah Grace, who used her quickness to burst in alone after maneuvering around a defender.
Grace generated another breakaway moments later but the ball rolled away from her before she could shoot and, again, Noble came rushing off her line to kick it away.
Tilton and Long said the Crusaders had hoped to jump out to a quick lead.
“When we get off to a slow start, it never ends up well,” said Tilton. “We do better when we score first.”
Orono coach Dodi Saucier said she was proud of how her team played.
“Playing on turf is quite an adjustment and we played with control,” said Saucier. “We’re still young.”
Saucier called Tilton’s performance “awesome.”
“She has such wonderful control,” said Saucier.