GRAY — There’s finishing when you want to, and finishing when you have to.
The Gray-New Gloucester boys’ soccer team was hoping for the former Saturday, but settled for the latter.
The Patriots had numerous opportunities early but couldn’t bury their chances, allowing a game, 12th-ranked Lincoln Academy team to hang in and force overtime and penalty kicks. With the game on the line, Gray-NG won the second round of penalty kicks to survive with a 3-2 Class B South preliminary win over the Eagles.
“We left a lot of goals out there,” Gray-NG coach Andy Higgins said. “If we had taken care of those and put them away, we don’t get to PK’s. But we got there. It wasn’t a stellar round of PK’s, even though we’ve been practicing them for the last month.
“I think the guys responded well and we got out of here with a W. We’ll be practicing on Monday, and that was our goal.”
Tied 2-2 after regulation, the two teams played a pair of 15-minute overtime periods. Still tied, the game resorted to penalty kicks. The first round of five ended 2-2. That forced a second round with five new shooters. This time around, the Patriots won out, 4-2.
“That’s a good team,” Higgins said of Lincoln Academy. “How are they the 12th seed? That’s crazy. I wasn’t excited about this draw. We played them last year in the quarterfinals. We knocked them off. I’m sure that was the motivation they used. We didn’t want to give them anything extra at all.”
Josh Bouvier, Ben Rogers, Josiah Carter and Nate Brindley all scored in the final round of penalty kicks. After Nolen Michael had buried a shot to the top left corner to tie it 2-2 in the second round of penalty kicks, Carter had his chance. He finished a shot inside the left post for the 3-2 lead.
“It’s just like in practice,” Carter said. “You take the penalty and move on. It was the same one I’ve been doing in practice. So I just looked at that one spot.”
John-Henry Villanueva, who finished with three saves during both rounds, made a diving stop on Gus Hunt to preserve the lead. Then Nate Brindley had the chance to win it. He had already scored a goal in regulation with a blistering shot. This time, he caught the goalie overreacting and put it to an open spot for the win.
“I didn’t hit it where I wanted to, but it went in,” Brindley said.
It was a relief for the fifth-ranked Patriots (9-5-1), who advance to play at fourth-seeded Mountain Valley on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Gray-New Gloucester controlled play early but couldn’t seize the lead. The Eagles (6-9) began to adjust and make a game of it, producing some quality bids of their own in the first half.
The Patriots, which lost three of their last four during the regular season, finally took the lead with 7:55 left on a scramble in front of the goal. After a Bryce Hayman corner, the ball was loose in front. Brady Darnell had a kick at it, but keeper Karan Nair made a stop. Nick McCann followed up on the rebound for the 1-0 lead.
Lincoln got that back just 4:37 into the second half. Nate Simmons turned and fired a high shot to the top left corner of the net for the equalizer. The Patriots grabbed the lead back just 3:20 later. Brindley had an open look from the outside and ripped a shot that hit home.
“I don’t know where that came from,” Brindley said. “After I hit it, I was happy that we were back and had some energy.”
Once again, the Patriots couldn’t hold the lead. The Eagles tied the game with 26:56 left in regulation. Thanh Nguyen dribbled by a couple of defenders and fired a shot that dinged in off the far right post.
From there, both teams had some chances as regulation wore down and the teams battled through two overtime sessions.
Lincoln had a chance from Ming Sun on a free kick. His shot went through the wall where Aaron Gonzalez was free but his shot went wide. Simmons had a break but put his shot off the mark. Hayman had a couple of bids for the Patriots late in regulation. Darnell had a header off a Hayman corner that went over the net.
In overtime, Simmons redirected a Gonzalez cross but Villenueva made the save. Simmons had a rush by two defenders but his chip went wide. Hayman put a free kick on net that Nair saved. Liam Stewart had a pair of opportunities late in the first overtime. The Patriots had an abundance of corners kicks late in regulation and in overtime but couldn’t convert.
In the first round of penalty kicks, Hayman put Gray-NG up 1-0 but a shot by John Henry tied it. Darnell gave the Patriots the lead again, but Gonzalez scored on a low shot to the right, catching the keeper moving the opposite way.
In the second round, Bouvier and Rogers scored to give Gray-NG the lead, but Lincoln rallied with a goal by Sam Peters off the crossbar. Then Michael tied it.
“We left a lot out there,” Higgins said. “We had a number of balls in the first half that appeared to roll right across the goal line. If we had a body in the box, we put that away and we don’t have a stressful situation at the end.”
kmills@sunjournal.com
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