Penalty area drill helps Ellsworth Eagles rally past John Bapst 2-1 on Zach Emeigh goal in second overtime

ELLSWORTH – The drill is called World Cup, in which one of the Ellsworth High School soccer coaches kicks the ball into the air near the goal, and the Eagles battle each other for scoring opportunities.

“Our coach doesn’t like it very much,” said Ellsworth junior Patrick Kelley. “It’s a free-for-all in front of the goal. He’ll kick balls up in the air and we all have to try to get it in the goal. The first one to put one in gets to stand out.”

That drill helped the sixth-ranked Eagles in a major way Tuesday, as twice Ellsworth scored from scrambles near the net – including the game-winner by sophomore Zach Emeigh with 8:26 left in the second overtime – to rally past No. 11 John Bapst of Bangor 2-1 in an Eastern Maine Class B boys preliminary-round match at Del Luce Stadium.

The win advances Ellsworth (10-3-2) to a quarterfinal Friday at No. 2 Caribou. John Bapst, the 2006 Eastern B champ, ends its season with a 6-9 record.

While a coach typically is the catalyst for Ellsworth’s World Cup drills, Kelley was the catalyst for the Eagles’ two goals with long, strong throw-ins into the penalty area.

“With Pat’s throw-ins we know eventually something good’s going to happen,” said Ellsworth coach Brian Higgins, “so if we can get him 42 throws a game, we’ve only got to score on one of them. That’s certainly a weapon, and without that I don’t know where we would have been this year.”

Emeigh’s goal came after Kelley launched a throw-in from the right wing. A scramble ensued near the net in front of Bapst goalie Ethan Cushman, and two Ellsworth players touched the ball before it caromed to Emeigh, who scored just inside the right post.

“There was two of us there and I went for it and it just went in the side panel,” said Emeigh. “I looked to see where it was open and just went for it.”

After a scoreless first half during which each team had a scoring chance bounce off a goalpost, John Bapst took the lead on a quick attack by senior midfielder Jordan Myers and junior midfielder Max Cutri.

Cutri gained control on the right wing and saw Myers racing down the middle of the field. A perfect pass ensued, and Myers redirected the ball past Ellsworth goalie Greg Berry to give the Crusaders a 1-0 edge with 33:10 left in the second half.

But Ellsworth, perhaps motivated by the collective memory of a come-from-behind victory over Mount Desert Island earlier this season, moved senior sweeper Alex Emeigh up into a more offensive position and pressed the attack.

That aggressiveness was rewarded with 5:30 left in regulation, as Patrick Kelley launched another penetrating throw-in into the penalty area and Nick Kelley (no relation) saw the ball bounce away from Cushman and reacted quickly to score the equalizer.

“Pat’s throw-ins are the biggest part of our team,” said Nick Kelley. “He can throw it so far, and when we get all of our players inside the 18 it’s really dangerous.”

Ellsworth finished with an 11-7 edge in shots on goal, with Berry making six saves for the Eagles and Cushman nine stops for John Bapst.