BANGOR — The strong playoff run of the Mount View boys soccer team came one win shy of a regional championship.
Sparked by three first-half goals and two goals from junior Fred Coit, No. 4 George Stevens Academy beat the No. 6 Mustangs 4-0 in the Class C North final on a blustery Wednesday night at Cameron Stadium.
The Eagles (13-2-2) move on to the Class C final where they will play Mt. Abram on Saturday at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham. George Stevens hasn’t played in a Class C title game since 2002, when it fell 6-2 to North Yarmouth Academy.
“The is the farthest a George Stevens team has made it in (21) years, so we’re happy to be the ones to push the team forward, farther than it’s been in a long time,” Coit said.
The Mustangs, who had a five-game win streak — including a 2-1 upset of No. 2 Fort Kent in the semifinals — finished 12-5-0. The Mustangs graduate a senior class of five players, including leading scorer Noah Hurd, but went above and beyond expectations with a roster heavy in freshmen and sophomores.
“I’m proud (of the team) to be here,” Mount View head coach Burn Farris said. “We’re young. We start seven underclassmen, seven freshmen and sophomores. I’m really proud of them. Nobody expected us to get out of the (quarterfinals).
Mount View’s Victor Ahlefeld, front, and George Stevens’ Ben Baldwin battle for the ball during the Class C North boys soccer regional final Wednesday in Bangor. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel
“They’re already talking about (doing well) next year, they’re ready. Our core group is sophomores, and we have a good group coming up from eighth grade. Our future looks bright.”
George Stevens used speed and a methodical possession attack on the Mustangs. The Eagles passed the ball around, constantly in search of an opening, and found one with 27 minutes left to play in the first half, when Reed Pambianco nailed a shot from 25 yards out that sailed over the head of Mount View goalkeeper Bernie Dodge and into the net.
Nearly 10 minutes later, it was the Eagles’ speed that was on display, as Coit was able to find room on a breakaway, firing a shot past Dodge to lengthen the lead to 2-0. George Stevens added one more goal with six minutes remaining in the half, when Rowan Gagne finished a cross for a 3-0 score.
“There was good possession for parts of the game, we’ve still got to work on that,” Eagles head coach Mark Hundhammer said. “That’s generally what we do pretty well, so I was happy. The first half, especially, I thought we played pretty well.”
Mount View’s closest scoring opportunity came with 13:50 left in the first half, when sophomore Tanner Oathout nearly scored on a direct kick, about 20 yards out from the goal. The ball bounced around near the goal line, but did not cross, and the Eagles managed to clear the ball before it found its way to the net.
“We had to start strong and not give (Mount View) any momentum during the game,” Coit said. “They had a phenomenal attitude coming in. They beat two teams ranked higher than them in the playoffs. So we knew they were ready to do it again. We had to come out a lot stronger.”
Coit scored his second goal midway through the second half, darting just to the right of the goal and slipping a shot into the net for the final 4-0 score.
George Stevens outshot Mount View by a 10-5 margin.
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