December 22, 2024
SCHOOLBOY SOCCER

Kongsuriya helps Hampden claim ‘A’ crown Madawaska Owls win ‘C’ title; Van Buren Class ‘D’ champion

Ahm Kongsuriya scored on a penalty kick to tie the game in regulation, then preserved it as the goalkeeper during the round of penalty kicks, as the undefeated Hampden boys soccer team won the Eastern Maine Class A championship Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Mount Ararat in Topsham.

No. 10 Madawaska continued its ride in regional play with a 4-2 win over No. 4 Dexter in the Eastern Maine Class C final game, and Class D Van Buren, the No. 5 seed, edged No. 6 Bangor Christian 2-1 for the program’s sixth regional crown.

In Class A, Trevor Campbell, Martin Earley, Andre Cushing and Peter Alexander each converted a penalty kick for the Broncos after the game was tied 1-1 through the end of regulation and four, 10-minute overtime periods.

“I thought we played a little bit tentative in the first half,” Hampden coach Ryan Shaw said. “We got outworked and beaten to the ball. In the second half we came out on fire and took control of the game.”

Kongsuriya, a senior forward, gave Hampden life when he scored with 13:18 left in the second half. The Broncos were awarded the PK after a handball in the box.

Mount Ararat’s Drew Erickson had scored about four minutes before halftime. The Eagles missed their first chance and missed again later in the penalty-kick session.

The Broncos will be the first boys team from the Penobscot Valley Conference to play for a Class A state title since they went to the state final in 1998.

In Class C, the Owls scored first in their third playoff game. Not only did they score first, but they did it three times in the first half. Tyler Levesque had two first-half goals and Paul Roy had another.

“That’s something we’ve focused on, coming out and scoring first,” Madawaska coach Ben Sirois said. “It’s hard to come back from an early goal like that.”

Levesque’s first goal came three minutes into the game. It was his eighth of the postseason even though he was just the Owls’ third-leading scorer in the regular season.

He also scored four minutes into the second half. Dexter’s Rick Stewart and Dan Beatham each had a second-half goal, but the Tigers couldn’t rally all the way back.

Madawaska’s Paul Michaud had four saves on six shots. Dexter’s Sam Bowers stopped 10 of 18 shots.

In Class D, the Patriots had a 15-13 edge in shots on goal but the Crusaders needed just a 25-foot chip shot from leading scorer Andy Martin with 11:29 left in the second half for the win.

“It was quite spectacular,” Van Buren coach Steve Lapierre said of the senior forward’s 26th goal of the season.

Ben Doucette gave Van Buren a 1-0 lead off an assist from Alex Martin with about nine minutes left in the first half. Eric Sobey tied it for Bangor Christian eight minutes into the second half with an assist from Josh Griffin.

“[Bangor Christian] came out strong for the first 15, 20 minutes of the game,” Lapierre said. “They’re quick, and it was hard to get used to that, but we settled down.”

Andrew Taylor had seven saves for the Crusaders and Aaron Wilson stopped nine shots.


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