Snyder OT goal propels Bapst Crusaders win defensive struggle

BANGOR – Sometimes a win can be pretty painful. Ask John Bapst boys soccer player Bryan Snyder.

On a cold, blustery Saturday at BMHI field where the wind made passing the ball an adventure for more than 83 minutes, the Crusaders’ Zach Means finally broke free of his Caribou shadow Andrew Bouchard long enough to fire a low, ground skimming pass to Snyder who was breaking in on the Vikings’ goal.

Snyder trapped the ball, spun and struck the ball with his right foot just as Caribou goalie Nic Chasse came crashing into him. The ball slammed into the back of the net just inside the top right corner of the goal to give the top- seeded Crusaders a 1-0 win over the second-seeded Vikings and their first Eastern Maine Class B boys title. John Bapst of Bangor, now 16-2, will play Falmouth, a 4-1 winner over Maranacook, in the state championship game Saturday.

In the ensuing celebration, Snyder suffered a sprain to a finger on his left hand.

“I think it happened when [my teammates] jumped on me after the goal,” Snyder said.

The goal put an end to a hard-fought but frustrating game for both teams. The wind dominated play with both teams outshooting the other 10-3 when they had the wind at their backs for a half.

Despite those numbers, Snyder’s goal came just 3:52 into the first overtime period and, oddly enough, against the wind.

Snyder seemed an unlikely goal scorer heading into the overtime. Usually an effective player through the midfield, Snyder was victim of the Crusaders having forsaken midfield play for the long ball, hoping to get the ball to Means on the run. Snyder wasn’t handling the ball as much as normal and when he did the Vikings quickly closed in on him.

“We were looking at everything long. I don’t know why,” John Bapst coach Evan Frace said. “[Snyder’s] game was a little off but big players come up with big plays. [Snyder] told me during intermission before overtime, ‘Coach we’re going to win this. Don’t worry about it.’ And he did it.”

And when the Crusaders managed to get the ball to Means, Bouchard did not allow the talented Means to beat him off the dribble.

“[Bouchard] guarded the [Peter] Moro kid from Camden last week and he guarded Means today. He did a great job on both of them,” Caribou coach David Wakana said.

Caribou’s best chance at a goal came in the first half, naturally enough with the wind, following a booming clearance kick by Chasse that bounced into the Bapst defensive zone. The ball found its way to Joel Griffeth who floated a cross over a jumping John Bapst goalie Bill Chapman. Tyler Giles got his head to the ball and it appeared destined for the back of the net before the Crusaders’ Taylor Lynn stepped in and headed it off the line.

Chapman made two saves on 20 shots while Chasse stopped two of 21 shots for 12-4-2 Caribou.

“We played really well defensively, I thought,” Wakana said. “But we didn’t have too many chances to score.”

Neither team did. A combination of the wind and each team’s defense ensured that. And the goal scorer never saw his goal go in.

“I didn’t try to place it,” Snyder said. “I just kicked it.”

And then the celebration began. Both painful and sweet.