Early lead stands up for Rams

BANGOR – It was everything one would expect from a rivalry game.

The Bangor and Brewer boys soccer teams played an intense, physical game Tuesday night at the high school field, with the Rams taking a big lead and the Witches trying to rally back.

In the end, Brewer fell short and Bangor wound up with a 4-2 win. But the Rams knew they could have escaped with a loss instead of a 2-0 record.

“We ended up really bad,” said Bangor senior midfielder JoJo Hwalek, who had a goal and an assist. “They came at us in the end and we lost our organization. We didn’t play our style of game, we were just kicking it up and running. We needed to settle down, get our composure and play.”

The Witches fell to 1-1, but first-year head coach Mark Savage was pleased with his team’s second-half effort.

“They made some adjustments, they regained their composure and played good solid soccer,” he said. “They made some adjustments on the field to open it up and give themselves some looks at the net.”

The Witches had some good chances in the first half, especially with Marc Relford booting corner kicks to Shun Sasaki. But they weren’t able to convert.

After Bangor netted three goals in the first half, Matt Goodell capped the scoring when he rolled a Hwalek free kick off his back and into the net with 21 minutes, 20 seconds left in the game.

At the time Goodell’s goal seemed like merely more offense. But the Rams would eventually need it for insurance.

The Witches scored twice in the final 13 minutes. Their first goal came when Aaron Saunders swept in from the left side and shot the ball past Bangor backup goalie Erik Milles. About seven minutes later, Prentiss Swett crossed a ball to Reid McLaughlin, who tipped it over to Andrew Richardson for a shot by Milles.

“We were too direct to the middle of the field in the first half and that’s right to the strength of [Bangor’s] defense,” Savage said. “We needed to widen things out.”

Brewer also did a good job of using its speed, especially on Saunders’ goal when he scurried down the left side of the field.

“That’s what hurt us the most, was their speed,” Hwalek said. “We’re not as quick as them in the back.”

It took the Rams a while to get their offense going, although they had a 3-0 halftime lead.

Backup striker Dan Taft scored his second goal in two games on a boot from 25 yards out to give the Rams a 1-0 lead. His shot hit the crossbar and bounced in.

“We knew we wanted to play our game, small passes, work the ball down the wing,” Taft said. “We tried to open that up and we started getting into it later in the first half, and it helped us.”

Tony Martinez netted his fifth goal of the season with a header off a pass from Johnny Warren and Hwalek followed with a penalty kick after Brewer was called for a trip in the penalty area.

Brewer goalie Chris Brady finished with five saves on 18 shots. Bangor starter Aaron Taft stopped five of 11 shots while he was in the net.