Eagles shut down Pats Rosenthal lifts GSA to crown

BLUE HILL – Will Rosenthal was a bit concerned Saturday about how he looked wearing white thermal underwear as part of his George Stevens Academy soccer uniform.

Whatever measure of extra warmth the longjohns provided the Eagles’ junior forward in the windy, frigid conditions, he used it to his advantage.

Rosenthal set up GSA’s first-half goal, then scored the clincher in the second half to spark the third-seeded Eagles to the Eastern Maine Class C soccer title with a 2-0 victory over No. 5 Penquis of Milo. GSA will play Western Maine champ North Yarmouth Academy for the state title Saturday.

Both teams turned in a gritty performance, despite temperatures in the mid-30s and a wind-chill index ranging into the lower teens. GSA (12-3-2) earned its first EM boys soccer championship since 1996.

“Pretty chilly,” was how the soft-spoken Rosenthal described the conditions.

“Did it look kind of silly?” Rosenthal inquired when asked about sporting the thermals. “I just wanted to be warm, so I put the long underwear on.”

The Eagles of first-year coach Jim Sperry weathered the elements, including a fierce wind that whipped them in the face during the first half. George Stevens prevailed despite graduating 11 seniors from last year’s squad, which also reached the EM final.

“Just believing in ourselves, and our coach helped us so much,” were two of the keys to the season pointed out by senior fullback Nick Henry, who was a dominating defensive force for the Eagles.

“We only had five seniors returning, so a lot of people doubted us from the start, but we believed in ourselves,” Henry said.

GSA took the lead almost 19 minutes into the game. Peter Graves lofted a long ball down into the lefthand corner, where Rosenthal controlled and worked around a Penquis defender. Rosenthal slid a pass out beyond the 18-yard line to James Lawsing.

Lawsing fired a hard shot that rose gradually, eluded the outstretched arms of Patriots goalkeeper Kevin Nason (10 saves), and found the upper righthand corner of the goal.

“I was just trying to put it on goal,” Lawsing said. “It went right where I wanted it to go.”

The goal was a blow to Penquis, which unleashed a barrage of shots with the wind at their backs, only to come up empty. James Friend made nine of his 12 saves in the half to help the Eagles stay on top.

“We chose to go against the wind in the first half,” said Sperry, who is coaching for the first time in the U.S. after being active in soccer overseas as a coach and player during his 15 years in the navy.

“That way in the second half, when they’re tired, they have to fight the wind the whole second half,” he explained.

Rosenthal scored GSA’s second goal with 10:11 to play. Blake Wessel got the ball to Rosenthal high in the penalty area and he drilled a shot inside the left post.

Penquis (9-6-2), which kept the pressure on in the first half, managed only a handful of scoring chances in the second half.

“We had some pretty good quality opportunities, we just didn’t put them in,” said Penquis coach Rex Webb.

Nason made eight second-half saves for the Patriots, including a superb stop (facing away from the shooter) with a motion resembling a two-handed reverse slam-dunk.

GSA got outstanding play from several players, including Mark Clapp, Henry, Rosenthal, Graves and Mike Astbury, along with Adam Cousins, Mike Freeman and Friend.

The Patriots’ mainstays included Jordan Allen, Domenico Maiorello, Colby Chase and Seth Simonian.

Penquis outshot GSA 26-22.