NORTH KINGSTOWN – Three Maher sisters were finally together again on the pitch Thursday night, and the youngest had herself quite a Cumberland girls soccer debut.
Shea Maher scored two goals inside the final five minutes to decide this Division I clash of contenders against North Kingstown. The Clippers left Perry Athletic Complex with all three points thanks to a talented newcomer.
Maher found the net in the 75th minute and converted a penalty kick soon after to push Cumberland over the top. The Skippers had no time to respond in a 2-0 opening defeat, a match that's been seemingly inevitable in November's playoffs multiple times in recent seasons.
Maher's solo run and left-footed finish on the opener would have been enough. She added some insurance from the spot just moments later, drilling a right-footed shot into the lower left corner. The Clippers made an early case they should be right back in the running atop the league after winning the 2023 crown and falling on penalty kicks to North Kingstown in the 2024 final.
"It's so cool," Maher said. "We used to play together when we were younger. Now that we're all grown up we have great chemistry."
Paynter Maher made her own mark with the program as a striker in her 2023 debut and is now a senior. Mckenna Maher followed the next year and is now a key performer in Cumberland's defensive half as a junior. Shea Maher waited patiently for a night like this to arrive and made the most of it.
"Paynter is obviously a senior, so she wants to end it with something good," Shea Maher said. "We really need to work together, and that's what we're trying to do."
Shea Maher's opener came after Paynter Maher won the ball a few yards inside midfield. Her younger sister took over and barged through a pair of defenders on her way to the penalty area. She slid into a shot that flashed across goal and settled into the far corner, snapping a 0-0 tie.
"Of course I felt like a goal was coming," said Cumberland midfielder Ava Batalau, a veteran and one of her team's best players on this night. "We were down their throats in the second half."
The Clippers (1-0-0) waited only seconds for another after a foul in the penalty box gave them a golden opportunity. Shea Maher was the choice to take it and calmly converted like someone with considerably more seasoning. The Skippers (0-1-0) were left to lament a couple missed chances earlier in the half that could have left them in position to at least share the points.
"The second half we really wanted to make a statement," Shea Maher said. "We all just worked together. We know what we can do."
Sienna Barron fired just wide off a corner kick in the 43rd minute and Anna Shipperly nearly had two goals of her own for North Kingstown, whipping a shot just over the crossbar and missing outside the left post after a Cumberland defensive mistake. The Clippers controlled the final 15 minutes, and the Skippers were under threat from the time Rylie Palumbo palmed Braidey Carr's shot from close range onto the crossbar and away.
"I felt that our performance was incredible," Batalau said. "We came out first game and we played amazing."
CUMBERLAND (2): Shea Maher 2; assist – Paynter Maher.
NORTH KINGSTOWN (0): No scoring.
Halftime – 0-0. Saves – Francesca Stoothoff, C, 3; Rylie Palumbo, NK, 5.
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Maher sisters lead Cumberland girls soccer to season-opening win
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