BREWER – A milestone victory for the program, keeping a school record intact, sweeping a rival, picking up an important win for the standings.

It was all up for grabs for the Bangor boys soccer team as the Rams faced cross-river rival Brewer Tuesday evening.

Devin Lincoln and the stellar Bangor defense decided to take it all – the Rams’ 200th win, their school-record fifth straight shutout this season, winning the season series against the Witches, and recording a 1-0 victory at Doyle Field.

“It’s a very important win,” said sweeper Nate Frazier. “We really have to win these last couple of games because we want to try to get second place.”

Bangor is sitting in third in Tuesday’s Eastern Maine Class A Heal point standings, one point away from No. 2 Messalonskee of Oakland.

Lincoln’s goal with 21 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first half provided the 8-1 Rams all the offense they would need. Bangor’s defense, including goalie Aaron Taft, Frazier, stopper Ross Allen and backs Christian Larochelle, Ryan Larochelle and Zane Gray held off the hard-charging 4-4-1 Witches.

There was some concern on Bangor’s part because Brewer had made it close in a 4-2 Ram win earlier this season.

“At the end of [Tuesday’s] game they moved up some guys on offense so we really needed to drop back and have our midfielders mark up,” said Frazier, who headed away two shots during a Brewer flurry with about three minutes left.

The Witches looked sharper in the second half because they reverted to their old formation after trying some new looks earlier. Brewer had four corner kicks in the second half after just one in the first.

“We tried some different things tonight and once we went back to our old style we played better,” Witches coach Mark Savage said. “That’s when we started to control the ball more.”

Lincoln’s game-winner started with a Matt Goodell header. Goodell’s ball fell at the feet of Lincoln and a Brewer defender.

“I just took it with my left foot and put it into the net,” said Lincoln, who comes off the bench.

Bangor coach Adam Leach said things opened up a bit for the rest of Bangor’s offensive players because Brewer was shadowing JoJo Hwalek, the Rams’ standout midfielder.

“I think that’s a mistake,” Leach said. “It takes a person out of their offensive flow to guard one of our guys, and JoJo’s not the only quality player on our team.”

Brewer goalie Chris Brady made three saves on eight shots while Taft stopped five of seven shots.

Bangor has outscored its opponents 20-0 since losing 1-0 to Hampden on Sept. 12.

Leach, who is in his eighth season, also credited backup goalie Erik Milles and fullbacks Mike Wellington, Greg Lenz and Colby Treadwell for helping in the shutout streak.

JV: Brewer 1-0