Sypitkowski OT goal propels Rams to win> Achorn scores two as Bangor girls top Caribou

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BANGOR – Bangor High School’s freshman class was well represented at Saturday’s soccer twinbill against Caribou. Freshman striker Eben Sypitkowski’s goal with 48 seconds left in the first overtime gave the Bangor boys a stunning 3-2 win over Caribou. Earlier, Sypitkowski’s classmate,…
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BANGOR – Bangor High School’s freshman class was well represented at Saturday’s soccer twinbill against Caribou.

Freshman striker Eben Sypitkowski’s goal with 48 seconds left in the first overtime gave the Bangor boys a stunning 3-2 win over Caribou.

Earlier, Sypitkowski’s classmate, left wing Melissa Achorn, had scored a pair of goals to lead the Bangor girls to their 10th consecutive win, a convincing 3-0 triumph over Caribou.

In the opener, the Bangor girls controlled the play and Achorn supplied them with two goals 5 minutes, 22 seconds apart in the first half to give them a lead that would never be threatened.

“They outplayed us. They beat us to the ball,” said Caribou coach Lynn Hartley.

“They dominated the game,” said Caribou senior striker Jessica Griffeth, one of the Viking captains.

Achorn’s first goal and eventual game-winner came with 19:12 left in the first half.

Following a flurry in front of the Caribou goal, the ball squirted back to right fullback Susan Price, who crossed it.

“I just directed it to the far post,” said Price, whose cross was volleyed by Achorn into the open net from seven yards out.

Achorn made it 2-0 off a Bethany Bosley assist moments later as Bosley ran on to a loose ball in the penalty area and pushed it across to her.

Achorn said her shot “kind of bounced off” a Caribou defender before rolling into the net from eight yards out for her seventh goal of the season.

“Melissa has some finesse but she’s best at getting garbage [goals]. I’ve never seen a young kid who can volley or half-volley as well as she can,” said Bangor coach Jeff Ingalls about his step-daughter.

Yet another freshman, midfielder Jlynn Frazier, sewed up the win by chesting a Molly Wiebe corner into the Caribou net early in the second half.

Emily Morse, filling in for starting goalie Anne Wright, who was at a wedding, made one save on two shots for 11-2 Bangor. Meghan Lombard and Meghan Scott collaborated on three saves on 12 shots for 4-8 Caribou.

In the second game, Sypitkowski was at the right place at the right time to convert the rebound of a Griffin McManus shot in OT.

Following a wild flurry in the Caribou penalty area, McManus found the ball at his feet 16 yards from the goal.

“I wanted to put it to the low post and I saw the left hand corner. I had a small hole and I had just enough time to whip off the shot,” said McManus.

Caribou goalie Dan Funk made a diving save but the ball bounded free and Sypitkowski simply had to tap it into the open net.

“This was a good win. We showed we have a good team and our record (4-7-1) doesn’t really show how good a team we have,” said McManus.

“I feel happy for the boys,” said Bangor coach Keith Bosley. “We’ve played Hampden real well twice and Ellsworth real well twice only to come up on the short side.”

Bangor had squandered a pair of one-goal leads as Caribou converted a corner kick and a free kick into equalizers.

After a scoreless first half in which Funk kept his team in it with several nice saves, Bangor’s Matt Soucie opened the scoring in the second half by heading a Tom Carey header past Funk. Both headers were perfectly placed.

Jon Ala tied it up 4:39 later as he headed Jay Plourde’s corner past Bangor goalie Mike Arsenault.

Carey and Sypitkowski teamed up to make it 2-1 with only 8:05 left. Sypitkowski tried to cross it but the ball was deflected in the air back to him. He headed it across the goalmouth to Carey, who headed it home.

Caribou, now 8-3-1, tied it up with just 4:33 remaining when Ryan Soucy, left unmarked in the penalty area, headed in Plourde’s free kick.

Soucy nearly won it with 15 seconds left in regulation on a partial break-in but his low 18-yarder rolled just wide of the far post.

“We made some mistakes but we manged to overcome them,” said Bosley, whose Rams avenged a 4-0 setback suffered in Caribou last month.

Arsenault finished with eight saves while Funk rejected 10.


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