MONMOUTH — Playoff soccer magnifies missed opportunities, even when they come in the first few minutes of a game, in part because another opportunity may never arise.
Fortunately for Monmouth’s Avery Pomerleau, he got a second chance not long after he’d just missed on his first in Tuesday’s Class C North quarterfinal. The junior striker took advantage, and the Mustangs’ defense took care of the rest.
Pomerleau’s goal 4:48 in stood up and the top-seeded Mustangs earned a 1-0 win over No. 8 Sacopee Valley.
The Mustangs (12-1-2) will host No. 5 North Yarmouth Academy in the semifinals on Friday afternoon. The Hawks, who beat Mt. Abram in a home preliminary game on Monday night to face Monmouth, end their season at 7-7-2.
Pomerleau went one-on-one with Hawks senior goalie Cameron Cyr in the opening stages of the game and appeared to have him beat but missed wide right from about 12 feet out.
With little time to ruminate over the miscue, Pomerleau took a pass from freshman Gabe Martin, dribbled in from the left wing, split two defenders as he cut to the middle and beat Cyr near-post for the goal.
“Gabe controlled the ball and played it over the top. He played a space, which our coach wants us to do. I made a move and had a good goal I guess,” Pomerleau said. “It felt good.”
The goal was Pomerleau’s 33rd of the season, three away from tying Kyle Fletcher record.
Both teams seemed to hit a bit of an emotional lull in the aftermath of the goal, which surprised both coaches.
“We had been in pretty much that exact same position a couple of times this year where we had gotten down 1-0 in the first five or 10 minutes and then we score within three minutes,” Sacopee coach Sam Bowers said. “That’s not what had me nervous. What had me nervous was how flat we played right after that. I don’t know how to explain how we didn’t come back with fire after that.”
“I thought it would be a higher-scoring game. I thought when we scored, that might open it up a little,” Monmouth coach Joe Fletcher said. “I don’t know whether we ran out of energy or became complacent for a little while after we scored.”
Monmouth had the bulk of the chances in the remaining 75 minutes after the goal. The Mustangs, who played into a strong wind in the first half, outshot the Hawks, 13-5 for the game.
“We generated a lot of chances. We just didn’t finish,” Fletcher said. “They played with a lot of people behind the ball but we still had multiple opportunities.
As soon as they got the wind at their backs, the Mustangs tried to take advantage y to start the second half. Off the opening kick, Pomerleau made a strong kick from midfield that might have wedged just under the crossbar if not for a leaping save by Cyr.
“We were planning that — have Hunter, Mat and Nick, with their speed, all run up to the goalie,” Pomerleau said. “We started that near the end of the season, like if the wind is on our side, just put it on net and see what happens. The goalie made a great save.”
The Hawks managed just two shots in the second half, although they were both quality chances.
Monmouth goalie Bradley Neal had to make a sliding save to deny Hawks junior Camden Bibro’s bid to tie it early.
Bibro had another chance on the counter-attack with a little over seven minutes left with a low dribbler through traffic. A crawling Neal tried in vain to get a hand on it, but the ball squirted wide of the post to his right.
“We play real good defense. We’ve only given up seven goals all year,” Fletcher said. “I’m confident in our defense. Offensively, we have to take advantage when we have opportunities.”
If they can find that combination, Pomerleau thinks the Mustangs have a shot at playing for their first state title since 2000, when they were in Class D.
“I think we have the potential to go really far. We’re going to be the ones to decide how far we can go,” Pomerleau said.
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