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MONMOUTH — A battle between boys soccer teams that expect to face one another in the Mountain Valley Conference championship game was bound to deliver some drama Wednesday afternoon.

It did, in the form of late goals by Killian Pillsbury and Chase Ross that gave a Mt. Abram a 2-1 comeback victory over Monmouth Academy.

Here are four takeaways from the key MVC showdown.

Long-range shots win it for Roadrunners

Ross said it himself: With the way Monmouth Academy was defending, Mt. Abram (3-1) wasn’t going to get a clear opportunity in front of goal. Instead, with the clock winding down, the Roadrunners were going to have to try their luck from distance.

Down 1-0 with 10 minutes left, Mt. Abram got the equalizer courtesy of Pillsbury on a screamer from just outside the box into the top left corner. Then, with 1:26 remaining, Ross attempted a cross that instead sailed over Monmouth goalkeeper Lewis Lamoreau and into the net.

“I figured it was going to be our last opportunity, so I just sent it in and hoped someone would get a head on it,” Ross said. “It was nice to see it fall and go in. … I was so surprised, but I was definitely super stoked.”

Mt. Abram withstands Monmouth pressure

Monmouth (2-1-1) peppered the Mt. Abram goal early and often, forcing keeper Ben Beaulier into action. Yet for all of that pressure, Mt. Abram’s defense largely held. The only tally for the home team was a deflection off Brennan Mitchell’s head for an own goal at the 10-minute mark.

“We were kind of sitting on these guys early on defense because we just kind of knew they’d be attacking us the whole time,” said Mt. Abram coach Jason Wing. “We went down, but then we just tried to flip the script a little bit in the second half and got some nice runs that opened up the field for us.”

Roadrunners-Mustangs rivalry continues

Across the board, Mt. Abram and Monmouth have been the MVC’s premier boys sports schools of the 2020s. Both won state soccer titles in 2023 (Mt. Abram in Class C, Monmouth in D). The schools have met in the Class C South basketball final in back-to-back years, as well as in the baseball regionals this year.

Wednesday was just the latest encounter between two groups of boys that have become quite familiar with each other, and which have championship aspirations.

“We both have great programs, and we’re both so competitive,” Ross said. “Sometimes it can get a little chippy out there on the soccer field, but that’s just two teams being competitive. We’re both great and we both expect to go far.”

Roadrunners bounce back from Mt. Blue loss

A win over a fellow powerhouse is always a positive, but it’s especially so when it comes on the heels of a frustrating loss. That’s exactly what this was for Mt. Abram, which lost 2-0 to Class A Mt. Blue last Thursday in Farmington.

“We weren’t switching the ball (at Mt. Blue), and we weren’t making our runs or communicating,” Wing said. “We just went back to those things the last couple days in practice, and we were able to keep it simple and play the way we’re supposed to.”