BREWER – Hampden Academy goalie Brad Melanson enabled the Broncos to salvage a 1-1 double-overtime tie with Brewer at Doyle Field Tuesday afternoon.

With 15 seconds left in the second overtime, Brewer senior striker Luke Thomas cleverly broke free down the right flank and broke in on Melanson.

Melanson came out to confront him and when Thomas tried to slip it across the goal-mouth, Melanson dove to his right and snared the ball before an unattended Witch attacker could tap it in.

“I could tell he wasn’t going to necessarily shoot [to the] short post. I came off my post a little bit and figured he’d play the cross as I saw their guy coming down the middle. So I played the cross and took it there,” said Melanson.

“I tried putting [my cross] on the ground but I probably should have put a shot on net,” said Thomas. “He was covering his angles pretty well so I really didn’t have an easy shot. He made a good save.”

Melanson’s alert play capped a frustrating afternoon for the 4-4-2 Witches, who had the better of the play thanks to their physical superiority, tenacity and effective long, high balls.

Brewer won most of the 50-50 balls as the 5-3-1 Broncos had trouble enforcing their skillful possession game due to Brewer’s constant pressure, the long grass and a bumpy field.

Thomas staked the Witches to a well-deserved lead with 13:49 left in the first half.

Joe Cox’s long throw-in skimmed off the head of a Bronco player to the far post where the unmarked Thomas tapped it in.

But Hampden Academy’s Ricardo DeLima was credited with the equalizer just 2:54 later when his low pass was deflected by a Brewer player past the left side of helpless goalkeeper Brian Kearns, who had come off his line to play the ball.

“It was a miscommunication between me and my defender,” said Kearns. “I should have called him off or told him to get it.

“We should have won. We’ve just got to work on our finishing. That’s off right now. The defense has been good. We’ve been pressuring the ball.”

Kearns, who was sharp throughout, made two important saves off talented HA striker Abdullah Alkhayyat in the second half.

First he made a reaction save off the Saudi Arabian exchange student in the penalty area during a wild flurry and then he calmly caught Alkhayyat’s well-placed 30-yarder labeled for the upper, far corner.

He wound up with six saves on 23 shots.

Melanson made four saves on 13 shots after replacing the injured Harrison Haiden (wrist) in the first half. Haiden made four saves on 14 shots.

“Brewer put us under pressure and manufactured a lot of chances from their direct play but I was happy with how our guys dealt with it,” said HA coach Kiaran McCormack.

Brewer coach Mark Savage was pleased with his team’s play but called the draw “very frustrating.

“We controlled the ball for a good portion of the game and had some good opportunities but our finishes weren’t there,” said Savage.

JV: Brewer 6-2

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