But you still need to activate your account.
BATH – The sequel was no less dramatic, but much more satisfying for the Scarborough boys soccer team Saturday.
Ian Philbrick’s goal 1:53 into the first overtime lifted the Red Storm to a 1-0 victory over Bangor in the Class A state championship match at McMann Field, avenging a double-overtime loss to the Rams in the 2006 final and capping off a perfect 18-0 season.
Bangor, which had won its second Eastern Maine Class A championship in three years, finished 16-1-1.
Scarborough’s Nate Tolman gained possession of the ball near midfield early in overtime, and saw Philbrick and a teammate just onside, racing toward the offensive end. Tolman lofted a pass toward the center of the zone, and Philbrick beat Rams’ goalie Bud Angst to the ball and redirected it just inside the right goal post.
“Nate played a great ball over the top and the goalie came out and I knew it was just me and the goalie,” said Philbrick. “I knew I had to get it by the goalie and I snuck it by, and it felt like it took forever to get over the line but it finally did.”
Bangor defender Ryan Larochelle raced toward the net after Philbrick’s shot, but the ball crossed the goal line just before he could get there to clear it away.
“I think we lost the ball up in their half of the field and we didn’t get back quick enough,” said Larochelle. “They had a few of those chances all game and hadn’t converted because we got behind the ball well when they were in transition, but that time they had a guy who slipped in behind.”
Scarborough finished with a 14-5 advantage in shots on goal, with Angst making 12 saves and Adam Blanchard making five stops for Scarborough.
“We knew coming in that Scarborough was going to give us a lot to handle,” said Bangor coach David Patterson. “They’re a fabulous team, and congratulations to them, but at the same time we knew we had the ability to make a game of it and we knew we weren’t going to be sitting back and defending the whole game.
“I was absolutely thrilled with how we came out and played, but you have to give Scarborough credit, they had some great chances and defended well. Against other teams we played all year we had those chances and we scored, but we couldn’t break them down and that’s a testament to their ability to defend.”
Some of Scarborough’s best chances during regulation came late in the first half, including a shot by Trevor Hoxsie that was cleared off the goal line by Bangor defender Colby Treadwell, and another shot ticketed for the upper right corner of the goal by Philbrick that was punched away by a leaping Angst.
Bangor’s best chance came late in the second half on a quick counterattack. Angst had just made a diving save on a shot by Hoxsie, and the Rams quickly cleared the ball from their defensive end.
When Scarborough couldn’t gain control near the edge of the penalty area, it bounced right to Bangor’s Johnny Warren, leaving the senior striker headed in alone toward Blanchard from the right wing.
But just before Warren could get off a shot against the Scarborough goalie, Red Storm defender Ryan Kane raced back to make a sliding tackle that deflected the ball right to Blanchard.
“I was right on top of the 18 and I knew it was me and the goalie and I really was thinking ‘This was the game-winner, I’m going to put this in and we’re going to win,'” said Warren. “I looked up at the goalie – he’s a huge goalie – but I saw each side and I’m like ‘I’m going to place it right there,’ and [Kane] came in and supposedly got a piece of the ball before he got me.
“I really think I should have had that PK [penalty kick], but if I had pulled the trigger just a second earlier, we would have won the game. That’s the way it goes.”
eclark@bangordailynews.net
990-8045
Comments
comments for this post are closed