Second-half ‘D’ lifts Rams by Eagles

BANGOR – The Bangor High boys soccer team has confidence in its ability to generate offense.

But it was the growing self-confidence among the Rams’ defenders that may have been the deciding factor in a 3-2 victory over Class B power Ellsworth on Tuesday evening

“Offense is not a problem for us,” said Bangor coach Adam Leach, “and the defense is maturing, because the second half was a good defensive effort.”

Indeed, both teams stepped it up defensively after a first half dominated by offense – no goals were scored after intermission.

Bangor’s second-half defense, led by senior captain Nate Cutshall, required a concentrated effort for the full 40 minutes, because this win wasn’t secured until Bangor goalie Jessefa Murphy stopped a shot by Ellsworth striker Jensen Rich with 10 seconds to play.

Sophomore JoJo Hwalek scored a pair of goals for 3-1 Bangor, while junior Dylan George added a goal – his 10th of the season – and an assist.

“We try to communicate as much as we can,” said George of teaming with Hwalek and fellow frontliner Adam Towne. “We’ve been playing together for a while, so we’re all on the same page.”

Senior midfielder Jacques Tardie paced 2-1 Ellsworth with a goal and an assist, while sophomore striker Demetrios Katsiaficas added a goal and Rich had an assist.

Senior sweeper Andy Berry was a defensive catalyst for the Eagles, who finished with a 15-12 edge in shots and a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks. Cory Smith had four saves for Ellsworth, while Murphy made seven stops for Bangor.

“I thought we played pretty well,” said Tardie. We’ve got a lot of guys who haven’t played a lot. We were doing the right things, we just didn’t finish enough.

Class B Ellsworth held a pair of one-goal leads, but it was Class A Bangor that took the final one-goal lead, at 3-2 when George redirected a high chip from the left wing by Eric Pelletier into the get with 7:17 left in the first half.

Tardie fed Katsiaficas to give Ellsworth a 1-0 edge less than four minutes into the contest, with Katsiaficas battling through two defenders and then scoring with a shot just inside the left goalpost as he was falling down.

Hwalek nearly tied the game moments later with a blast off the crossbar, and Smith came up big when George gathered the rebound and grounded a challenging shot.

The Rams tied the match with 19:44 left in the half, converting on a quick attack as Hwalek beat Smith to the ball amid a scramble in the crease.

Tardie elevated high above the rest of the players in the goal crease to head home a corner kick by Rich to restore Ellsworth to a 2-1 lead with less than 14 minutes left in the period. Hwalek scored the equalizer three minutes later, trapping a centering pass from George off his stomach and scoring from close range.

“That was our first big test,” said Ellsworth coach Brian Higgins. “We have four returning seniors who started last year, and everybody else had played very little varsity, so this was a great test and I thought we played well.

“Bangor’s a good team, and this was our barometer to see where we are, so we’ll be ready for the rest of our Class B schedule, I think.”

JV: Bangor 3-0