Cony gets by Bangor in 4OT Cameron makes most of second chance with game-winner

BANGOR – Cony High School of Augusta senior striker Craig Cameron had squandered a terrific scoring opportunity in the first half off a Jake Barnes pass when he lifted an open eight-yarder over the crossbar.

But he atoned for his miss by converting a more difficult opportunity with 35 seconds left in the fourth and final 10-minute overtime to give ninth-seeded Cony a 1-0 win over eighth seed Bangor on a snow-covered field.

Cony, 7-5-3, will face top seed Brunswick, 11-1-2, on Saturday. Bangor finished 9-5-1.

With penalty kicks looming, Barnes sent a long cross from the right flank into the middle of the penalty area that landed on Cameron’s foot.

“I one-timed it out of the air. I saw the goalie [Austin Smith] on the left side of the net so I tried to put it right and I did,” said Cameron whose goal was his team-leading 13th of the season.

Barnes said “I saw Craig out front and I got it right to his feet.”

Smith had no chance on the nifty finish by Cameron.

“I took two steps out and realized he was going to get there first so I took one step back. He shot it and I didn’t have time to react,” said Smith.

Despite the slippery conditions, the two teams played superb defensively.

Both did an exceptional job getting numbers on the defensive side of the ball and the backs intelligently cleared the ball on the first touch rather than risk losing it off the dribble.

“That’s one of the best games our backs have played all season,” said an appreciative Smith.

Cony coach Nate Benoit said due to the conditions, “I thought it would be a shooters game, 3-2 or 4-3. But the backs on both teams played very well.”

Goalies Smith and Matthew Dennett of Cony were also impressive as they were sure-handed and made good decisions..

Scoring chances were few and far between throughout.

Cameron had two good chances in the Cony-dominated first half, including the eight-yarder, but missed.

Bangor had the better chances in the second half with Dylan George and Nick Larochelle creating some menacing opportunities only to have the Cony defense thwart them.

On one of the rare times Dennett got caught out of position, after he cleared a cross, Bangor’s Sean Boley chipped a 26-yarder over the bar.

Cony generated a couple of wild goal-mouth scrambles in the waning moments of regulation but Bangor defenders cleared the ball to safety.

Early in overtime, George maneuvered neatly and laid the ball across to an open Dan Malmer, whose 18-yarder went wide of the right post.

Sweeper Adam Moreau, stopper Ian Dumont and outside backs Ben Moore and Joel Dumont were rock-solid in the back for Cony while Bangor received similar performances from sweepers Ben Hoke and Tyler Garrett, stopper Nate Goodell and fullbacks Ben Dixon and Nate Cutshall.

Both teams had 18 shots. Dennett made six saves while Smith had four.

“Neither team was willing to let down. That’s what playoff soccer is all about. You had two good teams and both deserved to win. But somebody has to win and somebody has to lose,” said Ram coach Adam Leach. “I’m incredibly proud of my team.”