FARMINGDALE — The Hall-Dale and Monmouth Academy boys soccer teams expected to put on a show in a Mountain Valley Conference showdown Friday afternoon.

They didn’t dissapoint.

Ryan Sinclair took a cross from Nate Mills and snuck a shot past Monmouth goalkeeper Kasey Smith with 36 seconds remaining in double-overtime to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 victory.

“(Mills) one-timed it to me past five defenders and I was just on the other side waiting for it,” Sinclair said. “I think I turned my head to celebrate before I even saw it go in, but I’m thankful it went in. I was actually thinking to myself that was going to whiff at that, because those are the hard balls (to kick), at a 45 or 90-degree angle.”

Sinclair’s goal paid off for the patience of several scoring opportunities for Hall-Dale (10-1-0). The Bulldogs almost put the game away in the first overtime, when Nat Crocker and Tyler Dubois had a breakaway advantage on Smith, but Smith was able to block Dubois’ shot attempt to protect the 0-0 tie.

“Coach (Andy Haskell) just kept saying ‘It will come, it will come,'” Sinclair said. “He’s usually right, last year it came with eight seconds left in overtime against (Monmouth). It’s just encouraging that we could go out there and win.”

Hall-Dale kept the pressure on throughout the first half, outshooting Monmouth 5-1. The Mustangs (9-3-0) tried to make the most of its lone scoring chance of the half, as Avery Pomerleau was able to knock a loose ball by Hall-Dale goalkeeper Brian Allen. But before Pomerleau could knock the ball into the net, Hall-Dale’s Alex Guiou slid and knocked the ball away, keeping the scoreless tie intact.

“It was just a super effort from the guys,” Hall-Dale coach Andy Haskell said. “(Monmouth) had that one chance early on, but Alex Guiou makes an unbelievable play.”

Neither team gained ground in the second half, with an equal 3-3 shot total before heading into overtime. Throughout the game, the Mustangs did an excellent job turning away the Bulldogs’ scoring chances.

“We played hard,” Monmouth coach Joe Fletcher said. “I was pleased with the way we played. We knew (the Bulldogs) were good. They proved they were.”

“We were both kind of playing in a similar way,” Haskell added. “I thought we had the better of the scoring opportunities throughout the game and (Sinclair) is Mr. Clutch. He always scores big goals in big games and that continued.”

Monmouth entered the game as the No. 4 seed in the Western Class C standings; Hall-Dale came in as the fifth seed. Hall-Dale has scored 39 goals in 11 games — an average of 3.5 goals per game. Both teams have had defensive success. Monmouth has allowed 9 goals in 12 games, while the Bulldogs have allowed four goals in 11 games, including seven shutouts.

“We’ve practiced a lot on defense,” Fletcher said. “It’s a senior-laden team. We play aggressive. We’ve only allowed eight goals all year, just one mental mistake.”

“We usually dominate on the offensive side,” Sinclair said. “If we do happen to turn it over, our defense is solid back there and get it back there for us.”

The Mustangs have a week off before playing Telstar on Friday. Hall-Dale has another MVC test Tuesday, when the Bulldogs play against Mt. Abram (8-3-0) in Salem.

Dave Dyer — 621-5639

ddyer@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Dave_Dyer

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