Lawrence blanks Bangor, gains final

FAIRFIELD – The first half of Tuesday’s Eastern Maine Class A semifinal couldn’t have gone much worse for the Lawrence boys soccer team.

And the second half couldn’t have gone much better.

The No. 2 Bulldogs, undefeated going into the matchup against No. 3 Bangor, put in two goals and got a penalty-kick save from goalie Nate Lovitz to earn a 2-0 victory.

Lawrence also picked up the program’s first-ever berth in the Eastern Maine final. The Bulldogs, now 13-0-2, will face No. 1 Mount Ararat of Topsham.

“They’ve had this goal set for a long time and they just wanted to realize it,” Lawrence coach Robert Towne said.

The Bulldogs and the Eagles tied in their only regular-season game. Mount Ararat beat Lawrence in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference title game.

The Rams, who were also seeking their first spot in an EM final, close out their fine season at 10-4-2.

Bangor dominated play in the scoreless, defense-heavy first half but Lawrence owned the second half. The Bulldogs moved the ball much better in the midfield and made sharper passes instead of the kick-and-run game they played earlier.

“Our biggest thing was just passing on the ground,” said forward Kevin Hageman, who scored the game-winner. “We did that a lot better in the second half. Bangor was going to the ball harder than we were in the first half.”

Towne made a switch in the second half, moving forward Brandon Grudda from the left side to the right so that Grudda, Lawrence’s assists leader, could escape tenacious Bangor midfielder Nate Goodell.

That put Hageman in the right place at the right time 8:41 into the second period.

Marshall Holmes had the ball on the right wing, and crossed it inside to Hageman. He headed the ball into the right corner of the net.

About 15 minutes later C.J. Perry put in an insurance goal off an assist from Grudda. It was his 10th assist of the year.

“They got that [first] goal and it gave them a nice zap of energy and it drained our energy,” Bangor coach Adam Leach said. “We knew it was going to be a very defensive type of game and we knew it was going to be low-scoring. Coming back in the second half is hard to do, especially twice.”

The Bulldogs needed a tough defensive effort to close out the game. Lovitz provided that when he faced a Bangor penalty shot with 11:21 remaining.

Ram forward Ryan Jeffrey shot the ball to Lovitz’s left side. Lovitz guessed correctly and pushed the ball out of the box, then made a save on the rebound.

“Generally more skilled players try to bend it in,” said Lovitz, who has allowed just four goals this year and finished with seven saves on 10 shots. “I just guessed to that side and that’s where he put it.”

Lovitz got a lot of help from his defense in the first half.

“Generally we tried not to let [Bangor] turn,” he said. “They didn’t get to turn on the ball and take wide open shots.”

Bangor had a number of good chances in both halves and missed a few late. Matt Larochelle nearly put in a goal after Lawrence’s second score. Omar Conteh headed a ball just over the goal with about 1:40 left in the game. In the first half, Nick Larochelle drilled a shot to Lovitz’s hands.

“It’s a game where you play for chances and hopefully you get more finished off than they do,” Leach said.

Ram goalie Payson Nichols made five saves on 11 shots.

Bangor forward Jeremy Kenney, a starter for much of the year, did not play because of illness. Bret Mitchell, who scored the Rams’ overtime winner in their quarterfinal, started in his place.