WINSLOW – The Winslow boys soccer team must have thought it was seeing double Tuesday afternoon at Kennebec Savings Bank Soccer Field.
Josh LaBonte scored two goals, both on long-range shots, in the top-ranked Black Raiders’ Eastern Maine Class B semifinal against No. 4 MDI.
And just as he did in Winslow’s quarterfinal last week, Jarrod Carnrick recorded the game-winning goal – on the very same type of play – as the Black Raiders topped the Trojans 4-1 and earned a berth in Friday’s regional championship game.
Winslow (13-1-2) will face No. 6 Ellsworth, which knocked off No. 2 Presque Isle 1-0 in double overtime Tuesday. The regional final between the Eagles and the Raiders will be a rematch of the 2004 EM final, which Ellsworth won 2-1 in overtime.
This year’s seniors were freshmen on that team.
“We kind of lost it the last couple of years,” said senior midfielder LaBonte, who was a varsity player that year. “It’s good to finally get back to where we were freshman year.”
LaBonte’s first goal tied the game at 1-1. Carnrick’s winning score gave the Raiders the lead for good.
The winning play started with a series of sharp passes along the 18-yard line as the Winslow players looked for an opening inside. Joey McLean found it, passing the ball to Carnrick on the right wing.
Carnrick made a nice move around an MDI defender and drilled the ball past Trojan goalie John Joseph.
The Raider bench erupted as the players recognized the goal – it was the exact same play as last Friday’s winner against No. 8 Camden Hills.
“It’s usually something we try to do, look for a nice through-ball on the weak side,” senior forward Carnrick said. “Joey and I hooked up again like last game and it worked out. It was like the same thing, both plays.”
Both of LaBonte’s goals were scored from long distance. The first, which tied the game, was a blast from about 30 yards out as LaBonte was hoping a teammate would get a head on the ball. But it took a big hop and went over Joseph’s head and into the goal.
LaBonte added his second goal with 5:50 left. This time, rather than getting off a shot in the course of play, he blasted in a free kick.
“The second [goal] I just figured we were up so I would take a chance and just shoot,” he said. “The first one I was looking for Matt Farrell. The [MDI] goalie just kind of came out too quick.”
MDI’s Tarek Dekkaki gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead when he kicked in a crossing pass from Ben Young.
The game was closer than the score reflected, especially considering the fluky nature of LaBonte’s goals. MDI (12-3-2) put on a lot of pressure after the halftime, with three shots and a lot of possession in the opening nine minutes of the second half.
But the Raiders grabbed back the momentum when Derek Veilleux scored with 23:25 remaining to make it 3-1. Veilleux had come out of the game in the first half for a few minutes after receiving an elbow to his head.
“They play a lot of skilled players in the middle and when they attack, they attack fast,” MDI coach John Rosenfeld said. “They went to the ball real hard. I thought they earned the win. We had a couple of bad bounces go our way and the next thing you know it was a little too much to overcome.”
Winslow goalie Tyler Levasseur made seven saves on 12 shots. Joseph finished with six saves on 14 shots.
Despite the loss, Rosenfeld was pleased with the Trojans’ finish.
“We played the best we probably could have today,” said Rosenfeld, who wrapped up his 31st year with the team. “It was a good year. We had 12 wins and nine or 10 shutouts.”
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