Orono boys soccer players (l/r) Kam Stockley (11), Anthony Bottie (4), Fred Linden (10), and Nathan Frederick (2) carry the Eastern Maine Class C soccer trophy across the field to their fans after defeating the Central high school team 2-0 in Bangor, Maine, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014. (Michael C. York photo)
BANGOR, Maine — The Orono boys soccer program had come so close to winning an Eastern Maine Class C title in recent years only to come up short that Red Riots’ fans could be excused for fearing the worst as their team appeared in a regional final for the sixth time in the last seven years Thursday.
But at last trepidation was replaced by celebration on Boucher Field at Husson University, as first-half goals by Frederick Linden and Nate DeSisto and a stout defense lifted third-ranked Orono to a 2-0 victory over No. 5 Central of Corinth.
“It feels amazing, honestly. It feels so good,” Orono senior midfielder Kam Stockley said. “We’re going to states.”
Orono, 15-2 overall and undefeated against Class C opposition this season, secured its first Eastern Maine crown since competing in Class B in 1992 and a date against defending state champion Maranacook of Readfield (17-0) in Saturday’s 3 p.m. state title match at Deering High School in Portland.
“We did what we needed to do,” Waldo Caballero, the Red Riots’ fifth-year head leader, said. “We wanted to score early; that was our plan and it did happen.
“We could have controlled a little bit more but we’re not used to playing on [artificial turf]. Still, we played as strong as we needed to play, controlling the field as much as possible.”
While Orono cherished its championship breakthrough, Central’s appearance in the final for the first time since 1991 — when current coach Paul Speed was a senior at the Corinth school — also represented a milestone.
“The biggest thing is just the kids having the confidence to know they can play at this level,” said Speed, whose club finished 13-4, with three of the losses to Orono.
“Hopefully this will build at the middle school and the younger levels and the kids will want to be involved in a program like this and hopefully continue to play in games like this,” he said.
Orono boys soccer player Kam Stockley (11) works the ball away from Central player Matt Hewitt (5) in the first half of their Eastern Maine Class C championship game in Bangor, Maine, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014. (Michael C. York photo)
Stockley had been a primary factor in Orono’s 3-2 and 6-2 regular-season victories over Central, so the Red Devils assigned junior Grant Poulin to mark him.
That concession ultimately served to open up the middle of the field and enable Orono to dominate play in the first half, with Linden and DeSisto cashing in.
Linden, a senior exchange student from Sweden, put Orono on top 6:15 into the match, gaining possession on the right side of the penalty area and eluding several surrounding defenders to score with a low, sharp-angled shot past Central goalie Quanah Harrod.
“I just tried to get the ball through the four people on me,” Linden said. “Then I got through and had a clear shot and skipped it on the ground and the goalie had no chance because he’s not used to turf and the ball went very fast.”
Linden continued to attack with a series of long-range shots that sailed over the crossbar before Stockley and DeSisto collaborated on the final goal of the match with 18.4 seconds left until intermission.
Stockley advanced the ball deep on the right side, then crossed it toward the near post. DeSisto headed the ball off the crossbar, but the rebound came straight down and bounced off Harrod’s back into the net.
“Kam somehow got that ball through a bunch of people and took it down the sideline so I knew I had to book it to the middle, and then he put a perfect pass on me,” DeSisto, a sophomore, said. “I headed it and it hit the crossbar and there was a scrum and it went in.”
Orono boys soccer players Jake Koffman (6) and keeper Alik Espling knock the ball away from Central playerJoe Nawojczyk (4) in the second half of their Eastern Maine Class C soccer game in Bangor, Maine, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014. (Michael C. York photo)
From there it was left to the Orono defense — sophomore center fullbacks Jake Koffman and Noah Burr, senior wing fullbacks Nathan Frederick and Isaiah Wilson-McFarlane and senior goalie Alik Espling — to hold off a Central attack that grew more consistent after intermission.
Yet the Red Devils’ best scoring bid didn’t involve a shot at all.
That came with 17 minutes left when when Andrew Speed beat Espling to a loose ball near the end line on the left side and grounded a perfect centering pass toward an open net. Teammate Caleb Shaw raced toward the ball but couldn’t get to it in time as it agonizingly rolled through the crease.
Orono outshot Central 18-8, with Espling making five saves and Harrod with eight stops.
