String strong in debut, tie Diablos

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BANGOR – An impressive National Premier Soccer League debut for the Maine Sting was about to result in a win.

But a game-tying goal by AC Diablos’ (N .J.) Evan Jaep in the 88th minute left the Sting with a disappointing 1-1 draw Saturday at Husson College’s Boucher Field.

In the nightcap, the AC Diablos women used a pair of goals from Rutgers University senior-to-be Alicia Hall to beat the Maine Tide 3-1.

Alexander Devereaux had staked the Sting to a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute.

“We should have won. If I hadn’t missed the penalty kick, it would have made a big difference,” said disappointed midfielder John Benson, whose PK in the 51st minute was saved by Diablos goalkeeper Buddy Custer.

Benson’s penalty kick was low to Custer’s left and Custer saved it with a well-timed dive.

“The direction was fine, but I should have put more pace on it,” said Benson.

“I had picked left in my head and saw the way he was running up to the ball. So I stuck with it. Sometimes I change my mind, but I’m happy I stayed with it,” said Custer.

AC Diablos, who had a favorable wind in the second half, pressed for the equalizer only to have Sting goalkeeper David Stevenson come up with a pair of exceptional saves off Jaep and Rich Baker to preserve the lead.

But AC Diablos, now 0-1-1, earned a corner kick with just over two minutes left and Jaep and Roger Kummer worked a give-and-go off a short corner.

“We had a lot of corners, but when we put them straight in, they weren’t working,” explained the speedy Jaep. “So we tried a short ball and it worked. I was trying to go far post with the shot, but it hit one of their defenders and went in.”

“It was either going wide or I would have had it until the deflection,” said Stevenson. “It came back the other way and got underneath me.”

Devereaux, a native of Sackville, Nova Scotia, scored the franchise’s first-ever goal off Stephen Grooms’ free kick.

Grooms’ long free kick took a bounce and Devereaux beat the on-rushing Custer to the ball and headed it past him.

“I saw the ball and pounced on it. I was hoping for the best and it went in,” said Devereaux.

“I just hit it toward the far post and [Devereaux] did well with it and put it in the goal,” said Grooms.

The Sting used the wind advantage in the first half to control play, but until Devereaux scored, the best chance of the half was squandered by AC Diablos’ Neal Melchionni, who missed a half-open net with a Baker pass.

The Sting received a terrific performance from center back Russell Kerr, who teamed with Stuart Rodgers and Grooms to frustrate the AC Diablos attack.

“They have some big guys in the back and some of them were tough to get around,” said AC Diablos striker Wise. “For a first-year team, they looked good.”

“We had a good effort all the way around,” said Sting coach Bill Ashby.

Stevenson made four saves on 17 shots and Custer finished with five on 15 shots.

In the women’s game, an unmarked Hall headed home a Danielle Wessler corner with 15 minutes remaining to sew up AC Diablos’ win just four minutes after Laura Harper had cut the lead in half.

“The goalie [Liz Deletetsky] came off her line and the left side was wide open. It was a very nice corner,” said Hall.

The Tide’s Kim Stephenson said it was a “communication issue” that left Hall unmarked and added that Deletetsky, who had just come on to replace Vanessa Peters, had no chance on it.

Hall opened the scoring at in the 28th minute by working a picture-perfect give-and-go with Rutgers teammate Kristen Edmonds to break free and slot the ball into the top corner past the helpless Peters.

Wessler made it 2-0 early in the second half with a beautifully placed shot from the top edge of the area into the far corner off an Edmonds pass.

Harper lofted her goal neatly over standout goalkeeper Meghan Walker off a Kyla Hoskins pass.

University of Maine teammates Stephenson, Harper and newcomer Christine LaBelle helped the Tide generate more scoring chances than they did in last Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Soccer Plus (Conn.), but Walker was exceptional in goal, finishing with nine saves on 20 shots for 1-0-1 AC Diablos.

Peters made four saves on 13 shots and Deletetsky made two on four shots.