AUBURN — Early Saturday afternoon, Bangor High School’s Garth Berenyi wasn’t feeling so well.
Between the heat and sickness, the Rams’ sophomore soccer midfielder was battling hard while also focusing on a tough KVAC matchup against Edward Little.
By the end of the game Berenyi was feeling much better. His goal with 1:42 remaining in regulation lifted Bangor to a 1-0 road win over the Red Eddies.
“Garth really came up big today,” Bangor coach Billy Shannon said. “He gutted through and came up with a huge goal there at the end. That was clutch. He did a great job battling today.”
It was a significant win for the Rams (3-1), who fell to Lewiston 5-0 on Thursday. Bangor took Friday to regroup and hoped to bounce back against EL (1-1-2).
“That was a really important win,” Shannon said. “With Edward Little getting three results in their first three games of the year, it was important for us to come down and walk out with some Heal Points.
“It was nice to see the guys respond. We didn’t come out on Thursday against Lewiston prepared for that kind of game. They played us off the pitch on both sides of the ball. They were better than we were. We’re gave the guys the day off and let them recover and let them get their heads right. Then they came out and executed the game plan.”
The l9oss is EL’s first. The Eddies tied Mt. Ararat and Messalonskee before defeating Oxford Hills.
“We have to learn how to win,”EL coach Matt Andreasen said. “We’re very young. We lost a lot of experience last year. Our group is a little green this year. They haven’t been in the big situations yet. In a game that’s tight at the end, it takes just one play.”
The game was back-and-forth for much of regulation, and it appeared overtime was inevitable. But, Bangor’s David Miller won the ball in the midfield and sent it ahead for Berenyi. He made a quick move by one defender and had some open space for a shot. He buried it in the lower left corner of the net with 1:42 remaining.
“There was one player in front of me,” Berenyi said. “I cut to the right. I kicked it kind of low corner and hoped for something. It was getting close to the end. We weren’t really able to finish. We had a lot of opportunities but couldn’t put it in the net. When we finally got that, we were really satisfied.”
Bangor outshot EL 12-10, but both teams created some offense. Both clubs were knocking on the door, but couldn’t finish.
“It was going to come down to someone getting on the end of an opportunity in front of the goal or somebody putting a good shot on frame,” Shannon said.
Neither team had great chances in the first half. Rams defender Conor O’Brien cleared the ball away from the Bangor net on an EL shot toward an open goal early in the game.
In the second half, both teams had surges that led to some pressure. Bangor got a shot from Miller on the left side. Then, Josh Sherwood had a rush and shot that was saved by EL keeper Owen Mower. Dan O’Brien fed the ball ahead for Berenyi but Mower charged out to break up the bid. Berenyi had another try when he beat a defender, but Mower was there for the stop.
EL had its share of chances, as well. Noah Perron had a rush but his shot was saved by Bangor goalie Stanley Clarke. Abdullah Jashaami had a pair of headers off crosses that went wide. After a nice cross by Tyler Morin, Alex Thompson had a try at the left but his shot went wide. Mohammed Abdraba had a shot late that was saved by Clarke.
“We had our opportunities,” Andreasen said. “We had a couple of good ones. In a sport like soccer, you don’t get many opportunities, and you have to take advantage of the ones you do create for yourself. Bangor did. Bangor made a play.”
Mower finished with six saves for EL while Clarke had four. It was the third shutout of the season for the Rams, who don’t play Lewiston or Edward Little again in the regular season.
“It was definitely a better performance today,” Berenyi said. “We’re just really happy with the win.”
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