Husson wins game; UMFK takes tourney

Husson College won the soccer game but the University of Maine-Fort Kent won the war – er, tournament.

In a weird, wild and rough championship contest in the season-opening Legends Cup Tournament at the Husson field in Bangor Sunday afternoon, the Braves got goals from Jason Hill and Gary Thompson to edge UMFK 2-1.

But the game didn’t go the distance and the title didn’t go to the winner.

With UMFK already playing 9 men against 10 courtesy of red cards being issued to stopper John Mottola and sweeper Matt Gwan-Nulla (Husson lost forward Matt Stelzer to a red card as well), the Bengals couldn’t afford to lose anyone else.

At the 23-minute mark of the second half, however, UMFK forwards Jonathan Clark and Brian Fay banged heads trying to head a high-hopping ball in the Husson end amid the windy conditions. Clark suffered a nose injury that bled profusely and necessitated his being transported to the hospital.

End of contest.

When the final tournament standings were tallied, after UMFK Coach Wulf Koch had ripped Sunday’s officiating and threatened to file a protest to the NAIA office, it was determined the Bengals had actually won the three-team event with a 1-1 record based on the second tie-breaking criteria – fewest goals allowed. Husson and St. Joseph’s the Provider of Rutland, Vt., also finished 1-1.

“I don’t really care about that,” said Koch, the first-year coach of UMFK and a native of West Germany. “I just wish it hadn’t come to this.

“The officiating was horribly out of control,” Koch continued. “Now, we have to worry about how we’re going to play our next game.”

Koch was referring to this weekend’s key home contest against District 5 power Thomas College. The red cards call for Mottola and Gwan-Nulla to sit out their next game, which will leave UMFK undermanned for Thomas.

Husson Coach Bill Ashby, although sympathetic to UMFK’s plight, disagreed with Koch’s assessment of the officiating, as handled by referee Gary Worrell and linesmen Roland Cyr and Kevin Giberson.

“I felt it was in control,” said Ashby. “The red cards were deserved.”

Husson took a 1-0 lead 12 minutes into the first half. Hill, a skilled freshman forward, worked a give-and-go with Thompson deep in the UMFK zone, taking the return cross and tapping it into the left corner past diving Bengal goalie Brian Lewis.

Then the fireworks began. Gwan-Nulla of UMFK drew the first red card five minutes later when he kicked Hill in the jaw while both tried to settle a bouncing ball in the UMFK zone. Hill, bleeding from the mouth, briefly left the game but returned.

The Bengals, although shorthanded, tied the game 36 minutes into the first half when Mottola boomed a direct kick from the top of the circle into the left corner past Husson keeper Jason Brewer.

Three minutes later, Mottola and Husson’s Stelzer were ejected for rough play in the UMFK end.

Husson got the game-winner at 20 minutes of the second half when Hill worked the ball up the right side from midfield, passing to forward Chris Steppe on the wing. Steppe fed Thompson in the box. Thompson stopped, made two UMFK defenders miss, then thumped the ball into the left corner.

Husson outshot UMFK 16-12. Brewer made 8 saves for the Braves. Lewis had 10 saves for UMFK.

On Saturday, UMFK defeated St. Joseph’s the Provider 6-4 in overtime behind four goals scored by Blake Lindstedt.

Trailing 3-1 with 10 minutes left in regulation, Blake scored two goals in a 21-second span to knot the score. Blake, Teddy Abebe, and Mottola scored in OT for the Bengals. Yassin Hashi had three assists. Lewis made 16 saves in net, facing 20 shots.

For St. Joseph’s, Jim Van Note scored three goals. Randy Adams added another and assists were contributed by Tony Buoniconti and Sean MacManus. Keeper Jim Bennifield made 19 saves, facing 25 UMFK shots.