BANGOR – A wet, muddy field didn’t deter the Searsport boys soccer team in Thursday’s game against Bangor Christian.

If anything was going to keep the Vikings from picking up their eighth win, it would likely have been a Patriot player who burned Searsport in the teams’ first meeting this season.

But Searsport bottled up Patriots forward Ignacio Bustos, and got two goals from Drew Mercier, en route to a 3-0 win at the Kenduskeag Avenue field.

The Vikings, who won only five games last year, improved to 8-1-1. Bangor Christian, a Class D team with a Class C-heavy schedule, fell to 3-7.

Mercier said Searsport hasn’t had much success against Bangor Christian in recent years, so the Vikings were eager to face the Patriots.

“I think we were really pumped up for this game,” he said. “We wanted to make a point, I think. They usually [beat] us.”

Bustos scored three goals against Searsport in a Sept. 12 game that ended in a 5-4 overtime win for the Vikes.

This time, Searsport had senior back Spencer Garton shadowing Bustos.

“Just not let him score and keep the ball away from him, get in his head a little bit,” Garton said of his game plan against Bustos. “I just pressured him all game, didn’t let him get any free touches.”

Bangor Christian coach Paul Jago said the Chilean player may have been a bit flustered by the extra attention.

“He doesn’t play well when there’s a lot of physical contact,” Jago said.

Mercier’s first-half goal turned out to be all Searsport needed. He scored 1 minute, 47 seconds before halftime when he kicked in the rebound of a save.

Josh McFarlin made it 2-0 six minutes into the second half when he kicked in another shot that went off a Bangor Christian goalie’s hands. Mercier scored again 11 minutes later when he kicked in the rebound of a McFarlin shot that bounced off the crossbar.

“The ball was so slippery that anything could happen,” Mercier said.

Although the Patriots have some quick fullbacks, Jago said the Vikings’ ability to get to the ball faster in the midfield allowed them to create chances.

“I think what showed today more than anything was our lack of speed in the midfield,” he said. “We have some OK players, but their speed is really what made the difference in this game.”

Searsport’s Jake Manner made nine saves on 11 shots. Three Patriot goalies – starter D.J. McCleary and backups Aaron Wilson and Ricky Shaw – combined for six saves on 12 shots.