BANGOR – With the sounds of clanging metal still reverberating, Bangor girls soccer coach Jeff Ingalls stood off to the side of the high school field after Saturday’s game against Presque Isle and had to smile despite the final score.

“What a great game,” Ingalls said. “It kept you right on the edge of your seat the whole time.”

While the spectators watched two suspenseful regulation halves and two overtime periods for a 1-1 tie, there were other edges involved – like the edges of the crossbars and goalposts, which was where most of the Rams and Wildcats’ shots hit instead of the net.

Banged-up crossbars, clanging goalposts, unlucky shots, lucky saves, scrambles in the penalty area and two overtimes – who knew a tie could be so exciting?

The boys game turned out to be less quirky, with Jim Shea scoring two goals as Bangor rebounded from last week’s loss to Mount Desert Island with a 3-0 win over Presque Isle.

While the Bangor boys solidified their playoff spot, a win for the girls could have assured them of a postseason berth. Still, the tie means the Rams’ picture is brighter.

The undefeated Wildcats, now 10-0-1, were ranked first in last week’s Heal Points and are nearing the end of their harvest break. The 6-1-2 Rams have only one loss this season – against Presque Isle last month – but held the No. 8 spot last week.

Substitute forward Katie Woodcock gave the Rams a 1-0 lead when she headed in a pass from Melissa Achorn with 11:57 left in the first half.

Presque Isle’s Brianna Blanchard used her head to knock in a Melissa Hendrickson corner kick and tie the game with 14:55 left in regulation.

“We made a defensive lapse that one time,” Ingalls said. “That was our plan, to stay after [Blanchard].”

Bangor had the biggest stop of the game with 26:59 left in regulation, when a Presque Isle goal was nullified because of an obstruction call against Bangor that occurred before the shot. The Wildcats were awarded an indirect kick about three yards from the right goalpost. The kick went straight but a wall of Bangor players knocked the ball straight up in the air.

Presque Isle recovered the rebound and sent in another shot, but the ball banged over the crossbar and sailed out of bounds.

Both teams hit the bars at least twice.

“I thought our shot location was off just a bit,” Ingalls said. “Look how many times we hit the bar, hit the post. As well as I thought we played, I think their ‘keeper came up real big.”

Bangor’s Katherine Miller finished with 13 saves on 16 shots. Jen Hallett stopped five of the nine shots she faced.

Presque Isle coach Ralph Michaud said he was pleased with his team’s effort, considering that Presque Isle is still in its harvest break and Bangor was coming off a 5-0 win over Hampden.

“I thought we played extremely well today,” Michaud said. “I was proud of how we fought back in the second half and tied it. We had a few chances to win it, they had a few chances to win it.”

In the boys game, it’s no shock that Shea tallied his seventh and eighth goals of the season. It was the way he scored them that was a surprise.

Both goals were diving headers, one off a corner kick by Jon Kotredes and the other a pass from Miles Levy. Shea had scored off a head ball one time this season before Saturday’s game.

“I just took a chance and figured, it may be the best chance to score,” said Shea, who sat for most of the second half when a baseball injury to his right knee flared up.

Shea got to sit with two of his teammates who received yellow cards. Four cards – two others went to Presque Isle players – were issued in the typically physical matchup.

“We knew they would come out hard,” Shea said. “But we had pass it, just pass it around them and don’t worry about the pressure.”

Bangor, now 8-1-1, spent much of the game on offense and outshot Presque Isle 22-7. But when Presque Isle was able to break free, defender Eben Sypitkowski and midfielder Jay Jeffrey were able to swoop in and stop the run.

Bobby Leavitt scored Bangor’s final goal on a shot from about 20 yards away.

“The difference was, they capitalized,” said Wildcats coach Randy Gartley. “The goals they scored were nice goals, and those are the ones that make the difference in the game. We didn’t get a break here and there but, hey, that’s soccer.”

Goalie Jeff Yaeger made seven saves for Presque Isle, now 7-3-1. Nick Loukes stopped two shots for Bangor.