WATERVILLE — Foxcroft Academy’s blessing turned into Winslow High’s curse Wednesday night.
The halftime break couldn’t have come at a better time for the Foxcroft boys soccer team, allowing the 10th-seeded Ponies to settle themselves and regroup en route to seeing through a 2-1 upset of No. 2 Winslow in a Class B North quarterfinal Wednesday night at Thomas College.
Foxcroft (9-7-0) will continue its tournament in the regional semifinals at No. 3 Mount Desert Island next.
“I think halftime was a pretty good break for us,” said Foxcroft junior center back Lucas Ranco, whose team got first-half goals from Michael Whang and Alexis Fidalgo to build a 2-0 advantage through 34 minutes. “Towards the end of that first half, we kind of fell down a little bit. We weren’t working our best, but in the end we really pulled that second half off.
“Having that two-goal lead really set us up for the rest of the game.”
After an uneven start to the proceedings, Winslow (11-3-1) pulled one back through sophomore Landen Gillis in the 38th minute to inject some needed life into a team which had been off for more than a week. The problem for the Black Raiders, however, was that the intermission loomed.
“We were playing really end at the end of the half,” Winslow coach Aaron Wolfe said. “Halftime came and slowed it up a little. It took us some time. They had numbers back and it was difficult to find (space).”
“The second half was the longest 40 minutes. The clock wasn’t ticking fast enough,” said Foxcroft head coach Luis Ayala. “We did a great job marking (Gillis) and minimizing his touches. It was a complete team effort back there.”
Winslow had chances to level in the second half, though they were few and far between.
Isaac Burbank’s straight-on free kick in the 54th minute was driven under Foxcroft keeper Mikel Alvarez but not enough to trickle over the line for the equalizer, and a second Burbank restart two minutes later to the back post found a running Gillis. Gillis didn’t have time to settle the ball before popping it over the top of the crossbar.
Most of the Black Raiders’ other possessions in the attacking third were just that — promising build-ups that failed to produce quality chances.
“They had a lot of numbers through the middle, and it made it difficult, especially later on,” Wolfe said. “If we just had one more — any of them — go in, it’s a different game. The total complexion of the game, how it played out, how they can play, is different.”
“We worked so hard that last half,” Ranco said. “That’s the best we’ve played all year. We did really well with double-teaming, and we usually had guys coming in and helping. When we got in here, a lot of us were pretty skeptical about it. We thought it was going to be the toughest game we played all year, and we just worked our hardest.”
Ranco and holding midfielder Jacob Reed made sure to keep Winslow’s possession high of the 18-yard box or too wide to find a clean, incisive pass into the middle.
“We were playing back a little more, a little defensive-minded,” Ayala said. “Early on, we tried to play our game, but once you get a lead it’s keeping everybody focused and keeping everybody in it to be defensive-minded.
“It was phenomenal, it was a great win for us.”
Halftime wasn’t the only break Winslow lamented. The time off for the Black Raiders between the end of the regular season on Oct. 22 and the quarterfinal round of the playoffs was eight days, while Foxcroft had played a playoff game already with a win over Waterville last Saturday.
“That’s why I always hate the bye,” Wolfe said. “It doesn’t help.”
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