WINSLOW – For Zach Emeigh, the art of the penalty kick involves just a couple of fundamentals.

“Keep it low and put it as close to the post as you can without hitting it,” said the Ellsworth High School sophomore.

It was advice he and his teammates heeded well as darkness approached late Monday afternoon, well enough to enable No. 6 Ellsworth to outlast top-seeded Winslow 2-1 in an Eastern Maine Class B boys soccer final decided by penalty kicks.

Ellsworth outshot Winslow 4-2 in penalty kicks, with the Eagles making all four of their attempts after two overtime periods had left the teams locked in a 1-1 stalemate. Alex Emeigh, Luke Haskell, Jesse Abbott and Zach Emeigh each converted against Winslow goalie Tyler Levasseur with low shots to the back corner of the goal

“We’ve been practicing them a lot lately, so we were pretty positive about it today,” said Zach Emeigh.

Winslow missed the net with two of its first four tries, so when Zach Emeigh made Ellsworth’s fourth penalty kick it gave the Eagles an insurmountable lead – and their 15th regional championship under longtime coach Brian Higgins.

“The fun thing to say about how to take penalty kicks is don’t even look up,” said Higgins. “Just listen for the crowd to cheer.”

Ellsworth, 13-3-2 overall but 11-1-0 in its last 12 matches, earned its first EM title since 2004 – when it edged Winslow 2-1 in double overtime in that year’s final. The Eagles will play in Saturday’s 10 a.m. state championship match at Lewiston High School against Western Maine champ Freeport.

Ellsworth, which won two overtime playoff matches en route to the final, controlled the play early before taking the lead 46 seconds into the second half when Zach Emeigh scored off a set play.

Patrick Kelley made a long throw-in from the right wing toward the near post to teammate Luke Haskell. He headed the ball to the middle of the goal crease, where Emeigh raced in to one-time the ball past Levasseur (nine saves).

“We possessed the ball in the first half very well, and we kept that mentality in the second half and we scored,” Emeigh said.

Armed with that lead, Emeigh was sent back into the midfield, and Winslow went on the offensive with an attacking unit that included Jarrod Carnrick, Josh LaBonte, Matt Farrell and Joey McLean.

Ellsworth goalie Greg Berry stymied that attack early on, particularly with a one-handed save of a point-blank shot by Adam Puiia midway through the second half. Puiia was standing along in front of the left post to receive a long crossing pass, and Berry reacted just in time to block the ensuing shot with his right hand.

“I didn’t know whether it was going wide or going in, but at that point adrenaline takes over,” said Berry, who finished with 14 saves. “I really didn’t plan to do that, but I just happened to get a hand on it. I still don’t know if it was going to go wide or go in, but if it’s close I have to go after it.”

Winslow’s pressure finally paid off with 10:14 left in regulation, as Farrell headed in a cross from Carnrick off the right post.

“They definitely put pressure on us in the second half,” Berry said. “I thought we dominated the first half. It just seemed we were playing more of a defensive game in the second half, which gave them their opportunity.

“That guy hit the header and it went off the post and that’s what you practice. I couldn’t get to it, it was a great header.”

Winslow (13-2-2) had all the momentum at that point, but with its regular field alignment back in place Ellsworth soon played itself back into the match.

“I thought we were done,” said Higgins. “[Winslow was] playing so well through the middle of the field and their backs were coming up to support the mids and they had five midfielders anyway. I thought, my gosh, we’re tired now and they’re excited, but after they scored we started getting more attacks again.”

Winslow had the best bid of the two 15-minute overtimes that preceded penalty kicks. Mitch Maroon fed Derek Veilleux for a shot that Berry tipped but may have been still headed for the back of the net until Ellsworth defender Dan Duhaime cleared the ball away.

“I thought we played much better in the second half,” said Winslow coach Ryan Hurley. We took control of the tempo and had some good opportunities, we just didn’t finish when we needed to.”