LISBON — Mt. Abram spent much of the first half preoccupied with calls that were getting made or weren’t getting made.
A halftime talk and a downpour to start the second half washed away the Roadrunners’ worries.
A goal two minutes into the second half, followed by two more in a three-minute span later in the period put Mt. Abram in command before Lisbon nearly rallied all the way back in a 3-2 victory for the Roadrunners on Wednesday.
“As a team, we need to face adversity. We were facing adversity. We were away, hour-and-a-half bus ride, it’s hot, and it was pouring rain, and things aren’t going our way on the field, and we just needed to keep our composure,” Mt. Abram coach Darren Allen said. “This is a good learning step for us as far as learning how to do that. I said, ‘Just play soccer, OK, and we’ll be fine.'”
Kenyon Pillsbury snapped the Roadrunners (2-0) back into focus 1:56 into the second half, slipping a shot from the left past Lisbon goalie Sean Moore and inside the right post in the pouring rain.
“That first goal by Kenyon Pillsbury really got us going,” Allen said.
Moore was able to get his gloved fists on Cam Walters’ chance off an Evan Allen free kick just over 15 minutes in, but he was left helpless moments later when Jed Zelie fired home an open rebound from Jonathan Jordan’s initial blast.
A Lisbon own-goal made it 3-0 Mt. Abram three minutes later, when Hunter Durland’s service to Nate Luce turned into a shot that deflected in off a defender.
The latter two Mt. Abram goals came as the rain was slowing down. Then when it stopped, so too did the scoring.
“The weather does kind of funny things, though, right?” Lisbon coach Shawn Rhoda said. “Sometimes it negates talent, you know, it even things out. But, you know, you can only hold a good team back so long.”
Just as the Roadrunners handled adversity positively, so did the Greyhounds (1-1) when dealt a three-goal deficit.
Elijah Fullerton ended the shutout with 15 minutes left, converting a penalty kick after Calvin Jeselskis was taken down in the box. Then, with three minutes left Lisbon, benefited from a Mt. Abram own goal, as Fullerton’s cross from the left side deflected off a Roadrunner defender into the goal.
“I was happy how we adjusted to the adversity when going down 3-0,” Rhoda said. “For us, we’re just trying to build a culture here, and to be able to handle that was all I could ask for. So I’m proud of these guys. That’s a good team over there.”
The Roadrunners had tried their best to put the nail in the coffin, but Moore stepped up big. He made a pair of leaping saves on Allen free kicks, and made eight of his 10 saves in the second half.
“The goalkeeper made two great saves on Evan’s two free kicks,” Darren Allen said. “They were going upper corner and he made two great saves, so kudos to their keeper.”
Rhoda said Moore “kept us in it.”
Lisbon outshot Mt. Abram 5-2 in the first half, only to have the Roadrunners flip the advantage to 11-4 in their favor after halftime.
Ian Allen made seven saves in goal for Mt. Abram.
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