WATERVILLE — It wasn’t the best match of the season for the Waterville boys soccer team. But thanks to heroics late in the second half and overtime, the Purple Panthers passed one of the early tests of their young season.

A goal by Ethan Goodrich in overtime gave Waterville a 2-1 victory over Oceanside in a Class B North game Tuesday afternoon at Webber Field.

“I’m really happy, we played right down to the wire,” said Goodrich, a junior. “We got a good win out of this, so I’m really happy.”

With the win, the Purple Panthers — who were beneath Oceanside in the Heal point standings — improved to 6-1-0, and jumped to the No. 2 seed, just beneath Caribou (3-0-2). The Purple Panthers have won five consecutive matches.

Elliott Trott scored the lone goal for the Mariners (4-2-1).

Early in overtime, Goodrich got his foot on a loose ball and knocked it into the far right corner of the net, just past Oceanside goalkeeper Grady Geretz, to secure the win.

Waterville’s Keagan Tavares, right, attempts to get around Oceanside’s Elliot Trott during a boys soccer game Tuesday in Waterville. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

“I just saw Gabe (Cedeno) dribbling down to the end line, and I was just screaming (for the ball),” Goodrich said. “I saw him cross it, and I just shot it in. I felt a tremendous amount of aura when I shot it in.”

The game was scoreless at halftime, before Trott nailed a shot in the top right corner of the net in the first minute of the second half for the 1-0 lead. The Mariners dominated possession throughout the second half, but junior Hunter Willett managed to flee down the field for a one-on-one opportunity against Geretz, and knocked a shot into the net to tie the game.

In their first seven games, the Purple Panthers have nearly matched last season’s win total. Waterville finished with a 7-7-1 record in 2023, falling to Caribou in the B North preliminary round. This season, Waterville has a veteran-heavy roster, with nine seniors and five juniors and have outscored opponents by a 35-8 margin.

“We don’t really have any weaknesses on our team,” Goodrich said. “Everyone loves playing with each other, and everyone knows how we play. We’re well connected.”

“We’ve known all season that we have a solid squad,” said Waterville head coach Dylan Dillaway. “We haven’t really had a test other than Erskine (Academy), and we handily beat Erskine (7-1 on Sept. 19). We knew this was going to be the first (match) where we were going to have to show what we’re made of. We got down 1-0, but the boys didn’t quit, and they kept fighting and we came out on top.”

Dillaway credits Waterville’s early success to a strong, balanced attack.

“We’ve got a solid attack that’s evenly spaced,” Dillaway said. “Gabe Cedeno, Ethan Goodrich, Hunter Willett and Garrett Gendreau are my four top attackers. They all can put it in the net, they can all handle the ball, they can all handle one-on-ones. Cormac Wilcox holds that (center midfield) position and allows that attack to push up. I’ve also got a solid defense with Keagan Tavares. It all clicks.”

Waterville is also paced by a solid goalkeeper in senior Dustin Bearce, who had 11 saves, including a diving save on an Aidan Willis penalty kick in the first half against Oceanside.

“Every time we play Oceanside, every year, I tell him ‘You’re going to play (today) like you play against Oceanside,” Dillaway said. “He did the same thing last year. He’s a second-year goalkeeper and he’s keeping us in games. He’s doing a great job.”