Bangor tops Old Town for 6th victory Malmer’s goal caps off win

BANGOR – In the end, Dan Malmer’s missed penalty kick didn’t matter to the outcome of the game – except, of course, to Malmer’s teammates on the Bangor High boys soccer team who were betting cookies on whether or not Malmer would make the PK.

Malmer’s kick would have given the Rams a four-goal shutout victory over Old Town. But Indians goalie Dustin Marley dropped to his knees to make the save – and Bangor settled for a 3-0 win.

The Rams are now 6-1.

Malmer and the rest of the Rams had some trouble putting the ball on the net against the Indians. But when you control the midfield and get your top shooters loose in front of the goal, sending a few balls over the top doesn’t make a big difference.

With regular penalty kick-takers Adam Towne and Dylan George on the bench at the time, the kicking chore fell to Malmer.

“Everybody knew I can’t shoot PKs,” he said with a laugh. “I knew they were betting on whether or not I was going to make it.”

The two teams went back and forth for most of the game with equal pressure in the first half. Bangor had a 1-0 lead thanks to a Malmer goal with 11:16 left in the first half. He put in that shot when a Bangor shot rocketed off a defender and Malmer put in the rebound.

Old Town (2-3-1) had some good chances, particularly on scrambles in front of the goal and when Tim Niles tried to curve in direct kicks and corner kicks.

“We had some missed opportunities we didn’t finish,” Old Town coach Mark Graffam said. “They settled down, played some short passes, figured out our defense and really started to control the midfield. If you can do that eventually you can break through. But I’m pleased with the guys. We knew Bangor was going to come out hard.”

The Indians were playing with five defenders in back to try to limit Bangor from making too many dangerous runs and getting open in front of the goal.

“It was kind of hard,” George said. “We were trying to take it wide, cut it back and get some shots, but it’s kind of hard to shoot when the ball’s coming right across your body. We’ve got to work on that.”

The Rams added two more goals in the second half. Towne hit a crossing pass from Malmer with about 20 minutes left in the game and George slammed in his 15th goal of the season about 15 minutes later.

“They were leaving a lot of space in the middle for us to move the ball around,” Malmer said. “We tried to get them to run and chase after it.”

Both Marley and Bangor’s Jessefa Murphy were kept busy in goal. Marley made eight saves on 23 shots while Murphy stopped 13 of 17 shots.

JV: Bangor 3-2