Rams start strong, knock off Broncos

BANGOR – The Bangor High boys soccer team shook off slow starts to win its first three games of the season.

But faced with its biggest challenge to date – not to mention its biggest rival – the Rams struck early Tuesday en route to a 4-1 victory over Hampden Academy.

Bangor never trailed after scoring three goals in an 8:32 span of the first half and ended the defending Eastern Maine Class A champions’ 23-match regular-season unbeaten streak.

Senior striker Dylan George led the Rams with his second three-goal game of the season. George, the 2004 Maine Soccer Coaches Association Class A player of the year, now has eight goals in Bangor’s 4-0 start.

“I don’t think we played our best game,” said George. “We could have passed the ball around more, we kicked it a lot. Our best soccer is still to come, but we definitely played a great game today.”

Junior forward JoJo Hwalek added two assists for the Rams, while senior Kyle Leeman scored Bangor’s other goal.

Bangor’s defense, meanwhile, used a bend-but-not-break approach to limit a Hampden offense that amassed 18 goals in its first three matches to just one, by Logan Larrabee off a Martin Earley feed that pulled the Broncos to within 3-1 with 15:22 left in a physically played first half.

“We were able to play goal side and play good stand-up defense and not really give them a lot of high-quality chances,” said Bangor coach Adam Leach.

Hampden (3-1) outshot Bangor 19-12, but Rams goalie Austin Smith came up big when challenged, particularly on two bids by Scott Hiller midway through the second half. On the first attempt, Smith punched away a hard shot by Hiller destined to go just under the crossbar. Moments later, Smith reacted quickly to turn away a solid header by the Hampden senior.

Smith finished with 12 saves, while Hampden’s Ben Silver made five stops.

“I think we’re a lot more even talent-wise than the score showed, but they kept their composure,” said Hampden coach Ryan Shaw. “Bangor played well, they played better team ball. We got down a little bit, and we started to act as individuals. You’ve got 11 guys on the field, and you’ve got to utilize all 11.”

Bangor scored on its first three shots, taking a 1-0 lead 9:26 into the match when George took a pass from Hwalek and blasted a 25-yard shot to Silver’s left. Leeman scored 2:02 later on a similar shot that emerged from a Bangor corner kick, and George gave the Rams a 3-0 lead at 17:58 on a penalty kick.

Bangor’s final goal came 8:15 into the second half when Hwalek stole a Hampden clearing pass and centered the ball to George, who one-timed the ball into the net.

These teams will meet again in the final game of the regular season.

“Hampden’s the best team that we’re going to play,” said Bangor coach Adam Leach. “It’s a rivalry, and we’ve been looking forward to this. It feels good to get that first big test, but they’ll be ready for us when we go down there.”