Rams down Witches Clarke tallies 3 goals in win

BANGOR – It’s no secret the Bangor girls soccer team has been struggling to score lately. But Laura Clarke provided a reprieve for the Rams last Saturday when she headed in a crossing pass from Justine Smith against Presque Isle.

Bangor’s – and Clarke’s -scoring touch continued Thursday evening in a matchup against cross-river rival Brewer.

Clarke led the Rams with three goals, including the eventual game-winner and an insurance goal, as Bangor rolled to a 6-2 victory at the high school field.

It was the final regular season game for both teams.

The Witches fell to 3-11 and will likely finish out of the playoff picture.

The Rams, now 9-3-2, will use Thursday’s offensive outburst as a boost for the postseason.

“We came to win,” Clarke said. “Today everything clicked and we’re definitely going to go up from here.”

Bangor scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the first half – Megan McCrum knocked in a penalty kick and Clarke booted in a pass from Jessie Roberts. Clarke scored again less than five minutes into the second half off a cross from Lauren Quaglia.

The Ram defense looked strong early, holding the Witches to four first-half shots.

“We just tried to stay in our passing game,” said Caroline Larson, who played in the midfield and at sweeper. “That was our real focus. We just played strongly as forwards, midfielders, and defenders.”

Bangor defender Danielle Thompson came up with a huge save early when she cleared a loose ball out of the goalmouth.

Brewer put a scare into Bangor in the second half as the Witches cut the Rams’ lead to 3-2. Rachel Wing scored twice, both off crosses from Amy Freeman, in a span of about five minutes.

“It was pretty much Amy’s crosses,” Wing said of Brewer’s offensive spurt. “We worked on those a lot in practice back and forth. I just went outside more and came around because they weren’t really covering the weak side [of the field].”

But Clarke gave Bangor some breathing room with 16:58 left when she kicked in a high shot from the left post.

“Finishing was a big thing today,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of chances this year, but the goals just have not come easy for us. … For me, and for the team probably, that was a big boost in confidence.”

Serena Dubois and Erica Schweikert each scored a late goal for the Rams.

Bangor’s Emily Gunning started in goal and made two saves on seven shots. Ilyse Angst played most of the second half and stopped one of two shots.

Brewer’s Katie Harris faced 18 shots and made eight saves.

Stacie Bean, a dangerous striker for the Witches, played despite dealing with a tailbone injury she suffered Saturday in a game against MDI.

JV: Bangor 8-2