BANGOR – The John Bapst girls soccer team scored one goal the conventional way and the other unconventionally to earn a hard-fought 2-1 Eastern Maine Class B preliminary victory over Camden Hills of Rockport at the Dorothea Dix field Friday.

With the match tied halfway through the second half, John Bapst Crusaders senior halfback Ashley Gale served a high, arching corner kick into the penalty area.

Although Bapst center-midfielder Kate Gerrow couldn’t win the 50-50 ball, it deflected the wrong way off the head of a Windjammers defender – who was trying to clear it out – and into the back of the net, which sent the eighth-ranked Crusaders into Tuesday’s 4 p.m. quarterfinal at top-ranked Presque Isle.

“We were right there. I was about to get to the [ball],” said Gerrow, whose Crusaders are now 10-4-1 while No. 9 Camden Hills finished 5-7-3.

“A goal’s a goal,” added Gerrow, who was credited with the tally.

Windjammers coach Meredith Messer acknowledged her defender was in the right place at the right time, and goaltender Lindsay Bumbalo was perfectly positioned.

“It was tough to judge the ball, I think, because of the sun,” Messer said. “She touched it first and it just hit the wrong part of her head. We’ve been working hard all year getting to the ball first in the air and she did that.”

Bapst found the going tough early on against the feisty Windjammers and only generated one shot at goal through the first 30 minutes.

“We have a tendency to come out flat, but the second we get into our groove we get fired up and get going,” said junior winger Kirsty Moriarty, who gave the hosts a 1-0 lead late in the first half.

After Taylor Edgecomb screened off Bumbalo on a scramble in front of the net, Moriarty pounced on the loose ball and slammed it inside the left goalpost with just under nine minutes to play.

“The ball bounced right off the goalie and Taylor was right there on the ground screaming, ‘Go, Kirsty, go,’ and I just nailed it right in,” Moriarty said.

Camden Hills went on the attack after that, controlling the midfield with crisp one-touch crosses which eventually led to an unassisted tally by Madeline Smeaton 2:38 into the second half.

“We had 15-20 yards between us and the defense. That just can’t happen in a soccer game,” said John Bapst coach Gary Sinclair, who made the necessary adjustments after Smeaton’s goal off a rebound.

The Crusaders switched to a four-line midfield alignment, and did a better job controlling the midfield and working the wings, and Camden Hills couldn’t generate a shot at goal in the game’s final 20 minutes.

“[The midfielders] did a really good job chipping it to the outsides to our wings,” Moriarty said.

Sophomore goaltender Laura Jordan came up with nine saves on 14 ‘Jammer shots, including a few spectacular stops in the second half under tremendous Windjammer pressure.

Bumbalo had six saves on 12 shots for Camden Hills.

rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net

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