Ryan Larochelle’s first 104 minutes, 52 seconds of soccer Saturday were devoted to defense.

But in a split second his attention turned to offense, producing Larochelle’s first varsity goal and a golden moment for Bangor High School.

Larochelle redirected a Nick George corner kick past Scarborough goalie Adam Blanchard with 5:07 left in the second overtime, lifting the Rams to a 1-0 victory over the Red Storm and the program’s first Class A state championship since the school added boys soccer in 1979.

“It’s totally crazy,” said Bangor co-captain Cam Cormier, one of nine seniors on a roster otherwise dominated by first-year varsity players up from the junior varsity or junior high ranks. “I never would have thought that this would ever happen, but it really happened.”

Scarborough carried the majority of the play for most of this windy, crisp afternoon in Windham, but was unable to crack through a defense backed by senior goalie Aaron Taft.

That control was most pronounced late in regulation and during the first overtime, when Taft kept the game alive with six of his 14 saves.

But Bangor collectively regrouped during the second overtime and finally got its chance when momentary pressure led to a corner kick.

The Rams took full advantage.

George lined the kick from the right corner of the field toward the goal area, where Cormier let the ball go through to Larochelle, who first settled it and then blasted a 10-yard, off-balance shot past Blanchard and inside the left goal post.

It was a play born in some brotherly advice from Ryan Larochelle’s older sibling and backfield mate, Christian Larochelle.

“Usually from the outside back position, I act like I’m making a run, but I hang out around the 18-[yard line] in case the ball pops out,” said Ryan Larochelle. “But this time Christian came and said to me off to the side, ‘Hey, you go in and make the run this time, and I’ll hang out for you back here. It’s overtime, and we’ve got to go all out to try and get that goal.’

“So I made my run, and the ball just skipped through right there for me.”

“The backs have the opportunity to read what the other team is doing, and if they put an extra guy back to defend, we can bring an extra guy up, or if there’s an open lane, they’re free to go through it,” said Bangor coach Adam Leach. “Christian and Ryan are so good at realizing where there’s an opening, and they filled it.”

Cormier had Bangor’s first crack at the ball as it reached the goal area, but didn’t have a good shot of his own.

“I just shielded off one of their guys and let the ball go right by me,” Cormier said. “I didn’t have a good angle on it, so I was hoping one of my guys would be there running on to it, and [Ryan] was in the perfect spot.”

Bangor (16-1-1) had never reached an Eastern Maine final, let alone won a gold ball, until making this trip to Eagles Field at Windham High School to face a Scarborough team that was the defending state champion and hadn’t lost in nearly two full seasons.

But armed with the experience of its double-overtime survival of Brunswick in the Eastern Maine championship match, the Rams were able to defy their relative postseason inexperience – 14 players had graduated from the 2005 team, and this year’s roster included six sophomores and four freshmen.

“Brunswick and Scarborough play a very similar type of soccer,” said Christian Larochelle, a junior who anchored the Bangor defense with his brother, sophomore Nate Frazier and senior stopper Ross Allen. “Both were very fast up front and liked to push the ball up the field off transitions. Especially being able to play Brunswick twice, we were able to get a lot of experience against high-level soccer teams, and I think that really helped today.”

Scarborough (16-1-1) seemed destined to score at least once, with its speed and attacking mentality the game’s dominant feature. The Red Storm outshot Bangor 22-8 during regulation, then 6-0 in the first overtime.

“I think we carried the play, but that’s not enough sometimes,” said Scarborough coach Mark Diaz, whose team finished with a 30-11 shots advantage. “Our shot selection was OK. It could have better. I thought we’d get a couple more quality shots, but that’s the way it goes. I thought we’d get some rebounds, but we didn’t put enough shots on net.”

Credit that to Bangor’s defensive persistence, as the Rams stayed between the Red Storm and the goal as much as they could and chased the Scarborough forwards down behind when necessary.

“When they cleared the ball out of the back, [assistant coach Don] Erb told us when their strikers get the ball to be right on the back, don’t let them turn and get a head start because when those guys get started, it’s hard to slow them down,” said Christian Larochelle. “They’re fast strikers, and they have foot skills, too, so we just wanted to slow them down right from the start.”

That pursuit often left Scarborough with a lot of less-than-direct bids or long-range shots against Taft – but when he was challenged, the Bangor goalie made every stop.

“Aaron hadn’t been tested all year long because the defense has played that well in front of him all year long,” said Leach. “That’s always a concern, not that your goalie’s not good, but he just hadn’t seen shots. Today he did, and he came up big.”

Bangor’s most serious scoring bids, meanwhile, came largely off either corner kicks or long throw-ins by senior Troy Jellison, save for a close-range attempt by senior JoJo Hwalek eight minutes into the second half on which Blanchard made a sliding save.

“Cam crossed it, and I saw it come over their defenders,” said Hwalek. “I chested the ball down to my feet, but I was kind of off-balance and couldn’t get a great foot on it.”

But as afternoon crept toward dusk, Bangor earned its first corner kick since the first half, and with it the Rams won a championship and a new title – best in the state.

“It was a game where they were faster than we were,” said Leach. “They were able to move the ball pretty well, but we didn’t become disorganized, we didn’t break down, and we knew we would get some opportunities. They would be few and far between; we just needed to capitalize on them.

“It took us awhile, but we got one.”