Edward Little’s Harrison Misha and Camden Hills’ Max Moore race towards the ball during the A North quarter final soccer game at Bates College on Garcelon field. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — There aren’t many balls that Camden Hills goalie Lucas Boetsch lets by. Edward Little — and Tyler Morin specifically — might have found the answer.
Morin snuck a shot past Boetsch for the game’s only goal — just like he did during the regular season — and the Red Eddies held off the Windjammers, 1-0, in a Class A North boys’ soccer quarterfinal at Bates College’s Garcelon Field on Thursday.
“Dating back to last year, the last three goals we’ve scored on that kid were just off of balls kind of deflecting out and then driving it forward low. He’s going to clean up everything that’s high,” EL coach Tim Mains said. “If you get that ball low, a guy that tall, it’s hard for him to cover. We practiced it all week long, and Tyler knew what to do with it when he got it.”
Morin’s chance came with just over 21 minutes left to play in the second half of a 0-0 stalemate. Ibn Khalid’s free kick from just inside the center line made its way to a group of players from both teams at the top of the box. The ball deflected to Morin all by himself, and the senior sent a shot through traffic into the left side of the goal past the dive of Boetsch.
“It came off my foot real well, and then once I saw it start going towards the corner I knew the goalie wasn’t going to touch that one,” Morin said.
The sixth-seeded Windjammers’ (8-4-3) best chance came on a penalty kick with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half, but Eli Thibodeau stuffed Marshall Merriam’s shot.
“Obviously missing a PK kills,” Camden Hills coach Ryan Hurley said. “That’s a momentum changer.”
Thibodeau, who was making his first career start in goal, made up for his foul in the box that drew the penalty kick.
“Eli is something because he’s never played goalie before,” Mains said.
Thibodeau’s save kept scoreless a game that, to that point, the No. 3 Red Eddies (10-4-1) had dominated. Hurley said his team lacked intensity in the first half, but the Eddies had no problem playing with that intensity from the start.
“I think that they were just ready,” Mains said. “We’ve got 14 seniors on the team, and they knew that if they lost, this was it.”
EL had four shots on goal in the first six minutes of the game, but Boetsch turned all of them away.
He also kept the Windjammers in the game until the end, including making a diving save on a shot from Morin that was almost re-directed in with 13 minutes to play.
“I wanted it bad,” Morin said. “Last game we played against them, it came right down to the wire. They were in our end at the end, and I didn’t want that. I wanted a more comfortable lead.”
Despite the team’s seed, Camden Hills coaches and players felt they had as good a chance as any other team to reach a regional final.
“It’s tough because out of all the teams I’ve had I really felt like these guys, where we were set up and playing it a certain way, I thought we could get all the way to the final,” Hurley said.
EL advances to the regional semifinal round, where the Red Eddies will face rival Lewiston on Saturday at Garcelon. The Blue Devils and Eddies battled to a draw in one meeting, and Lewiston won the other during the regular season.
“I’ve been licking my lips for a rematch at Lewiston,” Mains said. “I really wanted that one.”
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
Camden Hills’ Eliot Matlack and Edward Little’s Ahmed Safi keep their eyes on the ball during the A North quarter final soccer game at Bates College on Garcelon field. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Camden Hills’ Owen Rokuos and Edward Little’s Christian Beliveau jostle for position during the A North quarter final soccer game at Bates College on Garcelon field. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Edward Little’s Alex Thompson and Camden Hills’ Quinn Brown race towards the ball during the A North quarter final soccer game at Bates College on Garcelon field. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Edward Little’s Alex Thompson keeps the ball away from Camden Hills’ Hugh Costigan during the A North quarter final soccer game at Bates College on Garcelon field. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Camden Hills’ Hugh Costigan kicks the ball as Edward Little’s Harrison Misha maneuvers into position during the A North quarter final soccer game at Bates College on Garcelon field. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Edward Little’s Alex Thompson and Camden Hills’ Owen Rokuos both try to regain control of the ball during the A North quarter final soccer game at Bates College on Garcelon field. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Edward Little’s Christian Beliveau and Camden Hills’ Owen Rokuos struggle for control of the ball during the A North quarter final soccer game at Bates College on Garcelon field. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)Edward Little’s Ibn Khalid and Camden Hills’ Hugh Costigan struggle for control of the ball during the A North quarter final soccer game at Bates College on Garcelon field. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal)
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