Bangor girls upset Lewiston

LEWISTON – There weren’t too many makings of an upset before Tuesday’s Eastern Maine Class A girls soccer semifinal at Don Field.

Lewiston was ranked No. 1 for the playoffs. The Blue Devils hadn’t lost a game all season and had won 14 straight since a season-opening tie against Waterville. And Lewiston goalie Beth Melanson had a streak of nine straight shutouts in the always-tough Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference.

But No. 4 Bangor wasn’t too concerned. The Rams, you see, were pretty confident.

“Nobody really expected us to be here,” sophomore goalie Ilyse Angst said. “And coming here, we knew they hadn’t lost yet. But we knew we could do it. We thought we had a chance if we did everything we needed to do.”

Serena Dubois and Laura Clarke hooked up to score goals 57 seconds apart with less than eight minutes left as the Rams shocked the Blue Devils 2-0 and gained the program’s first-ever trip to an Eastern Maine final.

Bangor, now 14-1-2, will host No. 7 Mount Ararat of Topsham, a 4-1 winner over No. 6 Brunswick in Tuesday’s other semifinal. Lewiston finishes its stellar season at 14-1-1.

“We knew this was our last chance [to get to the EM final],” said senior captain Clarke.

Dubois and Clarke have connected on goals all season long, so Tuesday was no different. It just took a bit longer than usual.

Dubois got loose for a breakaway on the left wing and scored the winner, a blast from about 6 yards out, off a pass from Clarke. There were seven minutes and 51 seconds left and it was the first time a team had scored on Melanson (five saves on 11 shots) since a 3-2 win over Messalonskee of Oakland on Sept. 25.

Fifty-seven seconds later, Dubois crossed from the right side to Clarke, who chipped it in off her foot.

“In practice it’s always me and her in drills, just working and working together,” Dubois said. “We just waited until the defense got lazy, we had some through passes and went right through [the defense].”

Bangor dominated most of the game, allowing the Blue Devils just a few offensive runs. Lewiston coach Rick Meyers attributed that to the Ram midfielders, including Caroline Larsen, Jessie Roberts, and Kristin Bogan.

“They really beat us to a lot of balls … if anything we missed a lot of midfield play,” he said. “They were just taking balls away from us. I think they kind of put us back on our heels.”

Bangor’s defense also put a damper on dangerous Laura Martel. Sweeper Danielle Lainez marked the sophomore forward and Emily Heath helped with a double team.

“She just never seemed to get into the game,” Meyers said.

Bangor goalie Angst had a huge first half, saving all seven shots she faced. She stopped a Martel shot and the ensuing rebound, and later in the half, she made another tough save by pouncing on a Martel direct kick from the 18-yard line.

“It sat right on the [goal] line and I was lucky I was right there,” said Angst, who had seven saves on eight shots. “I have to give credit to everyone in front of me.”

Lewiston managed just one shot at goal in the second half.

The Blue Devils were without senior captain Katie Morin, a midfielder who has mononucleosis.