Ashland luck strikes again in state final

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Got a new term for you:

Ashland luck.

Miss hitting the Megabucks by one number? You’ve got Ashland luck.

Car dies on the way to the bank to make the final payment? Ashland luck.

To understand the origin of the term you only had to be at the soccer field on Pendleton Street in Brewer Saturday for the Class D boys soccer championship between Eastern Maine champion Ashland and Western kingpin Waynflete of Portland.

Now, no one who witnessed Waynflete’s skillful display on the way to a 2-1 victory is about to say the Flyers won the title based solely on luck. You don’t outshoot the opposition 24-12 and get accused of a lucky win.

What impartial witnesses couldn’t help but acknowledge, however, was the rotten luck that befell Ashland.

A little background:

Ashland came into Saturday’s contest having appeared in three previous state title games dating back to 1976. The Hornets were 0-3 in those Class C finals, including a 1-0 loss and a 3-1 loss.

So the Ashland throng that filled the stands in Brewer thought their kids, now in Class D, were due. This was going to be their year.

And, for the first 57 minutes of the game, there was no reason to believe otherwise. The Hornets were in the thick of a 1-1 game and playing better territorially in the second half than they had in the first period.

Then it struck. Ashland luck.

At 22:52, the ball squirted loose in the no-man’s land between senior Ashland goalie Deane Rafford and unmarked Waynflete midfielder Gabe Johnson. The two closed on the ball. Rafford dove for it. Johnson swung his leg at it. Both players got a piece of the ball in bang-bang fashion. Unfortunately, Johnson’s knee also got a significant piece of Rafford’s face.

Rafford lay prone as his Ashland teammates booted the ball safely out of bounds. When Rafford stayed face down in the soggy turf, the officials, trainer, players and coaches converged to find him bleeding profusely from a gash over his right eye.

“When I got to him, all he said was, `I want to stay in,’ ” Ashland coach Pete Belskis would relate afterward.

The cut turned out to be too bad to allow Rafford to stay in. An ambulance was called. Rafford was trundled off the field to the hospital for stitches.

Such injuries are, of course, part of the game. It’s bad luck, sure. But it could happen to anyone. Those are the breaks.

Except, Rafford had already had his bad break. Literally.

One of only three seniors on the team, Rafford had missed half of last season with a broken leg.

“He had to come a long way to get back from that injury,” said Belskis. “I just feel bad for him.”

With Rafford on the way to the emergency room, Belskis had to find a goalie to replace the young man who had played every game for the Hornets this season. Belskis settled on sophomore center halfback Paul Harold.

“The Harold kid is an excellent athlete. He’s got good hands,” Belskis said, explaining the move.

The position switch gave Harold the rare opportunity to both score a goal and pick up a win in net in a state game. Midway through the first period, Harold had hooked a direct kick into the upper right corner of the Waynflete net from 25 yards out to put the Hornets on the scoreboard.

“I was real surprised,” Harold admitted, when asked his reaction to moving to keeper. “We have a backup goalie, but he’s a freshman, so coach decided to put me in goal. I didn’t care. I was just trying to help the team.”

Harold, who had played a litle keeper in junior high, saved the first two shots Waynflete put on him. He also made a couple of solid pickups and kicks.

But with 12:58 remaining in the game, Waynflete was awarded an indirect kick from 20 yards out. Waynflete’s Ben Twitchell tapped the ball to top-scorer Ed Flowerdew, who then blasted a screamer on net.

“I slapped it down,” recounted Harold. “I should have grabbed it.”

Instead, Waynflete’s Justin Huston was there to hammer the rebound into the back of the net to give Waynflete the lead.

Ashland mounted three or four good rushes on the Waynflete goal in the remaining minutes, but the Flyer back line always managed to break up the play.

When the horn sounded ending the game, the Ashland players could only stare hollow eyed as the Waynflete team celebrated.

“We have a great tradition at Ashland. It just seems we come up a little short. All our state games have been real close. That’s the way soccer goes. If you get a break and take advantage of it, you’re state champs,” assessed Belskis, whose Hornets must wait another year to break this run of Ashland luck.