MANCHESTER — Timberlane of Plaistow made lemonade from lemons, and squeezed two goals from three second-half scoring chances to steal a 2-0 win from Manchester Central in girls’ soccer play Friday afternoon at Gill Stadium.

The Owls (5-4) didn’t grow sour watching the Little Green dictate play. Instead, Timberlane capitalized on opportunities as Alicia Ross one-timed a pass from Caitlin Rothwell just inside the far post in the 69th minute, and Emily Swanson redirected Bridget Beaulky’s free kick at 79 minutes.

Central (3-3-3) couldn’t pluck a goal from a bounty of chances created on drives involving Cassie Lacroix, Serena Shuter, Victoria Vincent and Nicole Rust. They dropped their third straight game. Timberlane keeper Emily Barrett saved 13 shots and watched back Erin Sullivan clear two balls off the goal line in front of an open net. Emily Jackson performed the same feat on a Cenral corner kick.

The Owls seemed to get more resolute each time they turned back a Central charge. Outplayed? Maybe. Outshot? Certainly. Out of sorts? Absolutely not.

“The players were resilient today. We talked at halftime about just needing to capitalize once and we could own the lead,” said Timberlane coach Jeff Bauman. His club competed without its leading playmaker. Rachel Morrier was out, nursing an ankle injury.

“We didn’t figure it out,” said Peter Lally, coach of a young Central squad that features just three returning starters. “We’re inexperienced and it showed. What can you do? There’s no easy way of gaining experience.”

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