November 23, 2024
CLASS A BOYS SOCCER

Bangor trips up Broncos in 2OT Mitchell’s goal puts Rams in semifinal

BANGOR – Bret Mitchell has plenty of speed and soccer ability.

On Friday the junior forward had something else the No. 3 Bangor boys soccer team needed during the second overtime of an Eastern Maine Class A quarterfinal against No. 11 Hampden.

He had fresh legs.

Mitchell, who was on the bench for the entire 10-minute first overtime, dribbled through three Bronco defenders and goalie Ken Mayo, and shot the ball into an open net for the winning goal in a 2-1 come-from behind victory over the Broncs.

“I had 10 minutes to sit and recuperate and focus and that’s exactly what I did,” Mitchell said between gulps of air moments after his run. “It was all focus. After the first half we were down one and the whole team just came together.”

Bangor, which goes to 10-3-2, will visit No. 2 Lawrence of Fairfield (11-0-2) Tuesday in a semifinal.

Hampden finishes at 6-10, including an upset win over No. 7 Cony of Augusta in a prelim game.

Although Mitchell created the goal all on his own, he did get a pass from Tim Woodcock right to his feet. He slipped the ball by the Hampden defense and had just Mayo in his way with about 5:18 left.

“I was gonna go around him to the right but he ran right by me and that was the game,” Mitchell said.

Games between Hampden and Bangor are always tough, but the physicality and intensity on both sides seemed to be ratcheted up even more Friday.

Nattapong Kongsuriya gave Hampden a 1-0 lead with 8:36 left in the first half when he blasted an indirect kick from Eric Kelmenson just outside the penalty area. The well-placed shot hit the back of the net just out of the reach of Bangor goalie Payson Nichols.

“To be honest I thought we outplayed them the whole game,” Hampden coach Andy Frace said. “They had some good chances but I think we had better chances. I think we really controlled the midfield.”

Nichols wouldn’t miss anything else, including a breakaway shot by Hampden’s Eric Libby in the second half and another Bronco chance that came off a corner kick in the first overtime.

Bangor’s Ryan Jeffrey tied the game with 14:57 remaining in regulation when he put in a penalty kick. The score capped a vastly improved second half for the Rams after they were outshot 6-2 in the first.

“We started winning the loose balls and we had picked up our intensity exponentially,” said Bangor sweeper Nat Weeks.

Nichols finished with nine saves on 15 shots while Mayo stopped six of 14 Bangor shots.


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