Goalie Archer sparks Hawks Hermon edges Trojans 2-1

HERMON – Mobbed by friends and fans, Corey Archer was hard to reach in the moments after Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B boys soccer quarterfinal. And the hero of No. 3 Hermon’s 2-1 win over No. 6 Mount Desert Island was a little emotional after four overtimes and a round of penalty kicks..

Archer – a senior who had never played goalie before, who only joined the Hawks to be with friends, about whom coach Brian Hamel has said he looks more like a linebacker than a soccer player – made three saves during a post-overtime round of penalty kicks to secure a victory and a berth in the semifinals for what could be the first time in 10 years.

Hermon, now 10-3-2, will host the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal between No. 4 Fort Kent and No. 5 Presque Isle in a game Wednesday.

Archer was nervous during the penalty kicks, exhaling hard and kneeling to the right side of the area when Hermon was kicking.

“I was kinda praying, kinda hoping at the same time,” Archer said, his eyes drier a few minutes after the game. “I’ll definitely look back on this and think, cool. … [The winning save] was the best feeling in the world. I got butterflies in my stomach again.”

After a scoreless first half, MDI’s Richard Hilliard put in his 13th goal of the season when he redirected a pass from Avi Gabel-Richards 21 seconds into the period.

The Hawks answered 10 minutes later. Wyatt Sabo booted a corner kick into the middle of the penalty area, and Adam Gould headed in the ball.

The Hawks and the Trojans finished out the rest of regulation and four, 10-minute overtime periods without a goal.

“It’s two good teams in an awesome game,” senior Gould said. “We wanted to step up pressure. It was hard because they were playing tough.”

The game then went to the best-of-five penalty-kick round. Each team scored in their first tries, and Archer and Trojan goalkeeper Dan Lyons each made a save on the next kick. Both teams scored again to make it 2-2, but Archer saved MDI’s fourth try.

Hermon’s Scott Riendeau put a ball to Lyons’ right for a 3-2 lead and the eventual game-winner. Archer then tipped out MDI’s fifth chance, and the Hawks rushed their goalie.

“I’m proud of my man,” Gould said. “He’s awesome.”

Josiah Curtis and Gould also scored penalty kicks for Hermon. Victor Doyle and Booth Dargis put in PKs for the Trojans (9-4-2).

“It was a battle of momentum swings back and forth,” MDI coach John Rosenfeld said. “There were times I thought we controlled the tempo and times when they were deep in our territory. It’s hard to lose in PKs, but the kids made every effort and they played hard, and that’s all you can ask.”

Archer finished with eight saves on 15 shots in field play, while Lyons had eight saves on 14 shots.

Hermon appeared to have scored with 13 minutes left in the first half when the Hawks shot an indirect kick into the net. But the referees ruled that the ball didn’t touch anyone after the Hermon player kicked it into play, which would make it a direct kick, so the goal didn’t count.