Bangor gets by Panthers MacDermott’s OT goal the difference

BANGOR – Somehow, Serena Dubois saw it all coming.

Just before overtime started the Bangor High forward told teammate Erin MacDermott to get ready for a pass. Luckily, MacDermott was ready when the pass came, and after almost 85 minutes of soccer so were the No. 7 Rams.

The Bangor girls soccer team had plenty of scoring opportunities in regulation, but needed overtime to put away No. 12 Waterville. MacDermott lofted a shot over the head of Panthers goalie Kelly Landry for a 2-1 victory in Wednesday’s Eastern Maine Class A preliminary game at the high school field.

The Rams now face a quarterfinal matchup against rival Hampden Saturday. The No. 2 Broncos, who beat the Rams twice in the regular season, had a bye for the prelims.

Bangor improved to 10-5, while Waterville finished its season at 7-7-1.

The Rams have won seven of their last eight games.

Each team scored a goal in the first half, and the Rams dominated play for most of the second half with an 11-5 edge in shots on goal after halftime.

As the teams regrouped before overtime, MacDermott said Dubois envisioned the winning shot.

“She said, ‘OK Erin, they’re marking me like crazy so I’m going to pass it back to you and you’re going to nail it in the goal,'” MacDermott said. “And it worked. As she always does, she brought [the ball] down, burned a bunch of defenders but couldn’t quite get it at the end so she hit it back and it got to me eventually.”

MacDermott was about 20 yards out when she booted the shot high into the top of the net. The angle of the shot was too awkward for Landry, Waterville coach Rick Jones said.

“That’s the toughest shot in the world because it drops straight down and the ‘keeper can’t get to it,” he said. “It was an impossible shot, but it was a good shot.”

Overall, Bangor took 20 shots to Waterville’s nine. But the Rams looked tentative, taking too many steps before shooting, firing balls wide, or not getting in position quickly enough to get shots off crossing passes.

Waterville gained control of the game late in regulation and didn’t allow Bangor a shot in the final 10 minutes.

“The last half of the second half it was in our end and we were really sticking it to them,” Jones said. “… I thought it was a well-played, even game.”

Amy Hackett scored for the Rams almost seven minutes into the game, and Megan Willette tied it with 19:34 left in the first half.

Bangor’s defense held up to runs by Waterville forwards Brittany Gardiner, Kate McAuliff and Beth Shattuck.

“At the beginning of the year we had some young players starting in the back and we’re just now starting to mesh,” senior defender Marion Bradford said.

Landry made nine saves while Bangor goalie Ilyse Angst stopped four shots.