WINTHROP — The wins keep coming for the Mt. Abram boys’ soccer team.

The Roadrunners earned their fifth straight win Wednesday with a 7-2 victory over Winthrop.

While the wins are adding up to a great season, the Heal Points aren’t. With a stacked Western C field and four unbeaten teams ahead of it, Mt. Abram’s 7-2 record is only good enough for fifth place.

“We could finish 12-2 and not finish in the top four,” Mt. Abram coach Mark Lopez said. “We gave all our points games away early.

Mt. Abram’s two losses are to unbeaten St. Dom’s and Hall-Dale. Those games came earlier in the season, but the Roadrunners feel they’ve got some momentum going now.

“We’re moving the ball very well,” Lopez said. “We’re switching fields and the guys are attacking the back post. I have four or five guys with five goals each. So we’re hard to mark because it’s not one guy to look for.”

Winthrop (1-7) discovered that Wednesday. The Roadrunners got two goals and an assist from Chris Daly. Cal Dixon and Colin McCarthy-Edwards each had a goal and an assist. Mt. Abram also got tallies from Gerardo Rio, Courtland Talmage and Keegan Rolbiecki.

Mt. Abram has scored 40 goals this season, 29 in its past five wins.

“I knew we were going to be competitive,” Lopez said. “I knew St. Dom’s and Hall-Dale were going to be tough, but I knew we’d be right there with them. I expected this if we played well.  After the Wiscasset game, we really came together and started to click.”

With most of the team back, the Roadrunners were expecting good things and have been delivering.

“We were very confident in our team,” said Daly. “We knew we could go far this year. We know our own strengths and feel we can really excel off them.”

Winthrop was missing a number of starters, including sweeper Ben Hall. That made a shorthanded roster even thinner, with just a 13 players available.

“With only one sub or two subs, it’s tough,” said Winthrop coach Dave Morin, whose team has six freshmen. “They play a fast game. St. Dom’s and Hall-Dale play a fast game. It’s tough for these kids, but they’re hanging in there.”

Mt. Abram’s experience as a team showed. The Roadrunners produced a persistent attack, great teamwork and built an early  4-0 lead. Three of those goals came in the first 10 minutes.

“We only lost four starters, maybe, from last year,” Daly said. “It worked well for our team this year. We’ve been working together since middle school and playing against each other too.”

Dixon scored the first goal through a crowd just 5:28 into the game. Then Daly set up a McCarthy-Edwards goal at the left side at 7:33. A handball call in the area led to a penalty kick and 3-0 lead when Daly buried it at 10:46. Then Rio scored with 10:00 left for the 4-0 advantage.

“The kids played hard,” said Morin, the former longtime Edward Little coach. “We have a ways to go with skill development, but they’re working hard in practice.”

Winthrop got a goal from Sebastian Pettit off a Jacob Hickey pass with 2:27 left in the half.

Rolbiecki scored at 9:53 of the second half. The Ramblers got another Pettit goal, but the Roadrunners added tallies by Daly and Talmage.

Winthrop keeper Matt Sekarek earned praise by both coaches with his efforts. He made 23 saves as Mt. Abram outshot the Ramblers 39-10.

Mt. Abram has five regular season games left with Spruce Mountain and Lisbon being the toughest foes.

“We’re trying to make sure we’re hitting our stride at playoff time,” Lopez said. “We still have some games that worry me a little bit.”

kmills@sunjournal.com

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