READFIELD — An entire season came down to penalty kicks.
And thanks to the right foot of Cooper Lycan, the Falmouth boys soccer team lives to play another day.
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The Yachtsmen ended Maranacook’s season on Saturday night in a 2-1 win at Ricky Gibson Field of Dreams. Maranacook finishes its season with a 13-1-2 record. Falmouth (11-3-2), the defending Class B champion, moves on to the Western Class B final.
“That was a great high school game,” Falmouth head coach David Halligan said. “That’s one of the best teams we’ve played all year. They were organized, they played with a lot of heart and spirit. They gave us all we could handle.”
Falmouth started the penalty kick portion of the contest with a goal by JP White. The Black Bears followed with a score by Kent Mohlar. Jess Melchiskey then beat Maranacook goalie AJ Freeman to give Falmouth a 2-1 lead.
Yachtsmen goalie Will D’Agostino stopped Maranacook’s next shot, by Matt Dubois. The Black Bears also failed to score on their next kick when Erling Vingelsgaard’s shot went over the top of the net.
Thomas Wilberg missed a game-winning chance when his shot went wide of the net before Lycan wizzed a shot past Freeman for the game-winner. Lycan immediately took a victory lap and was mobbed by his teammates after the goal.
“Pressure is just something you put on yourself,” Lycan said. “Under pressure, you can’t really make a penalty kick. You psyche yourself out, the goal looks smaller. So you just relax, hit a clean ball. You have to make (the goalie) make a save.”
The game was physical from the opening whistle. Falmouth put the pressure on early, taking a 1-0 lead with 20 minutes remaining in the first half. From midfield, Falmouth midfielder White sent a free kick in front of the net. Ian McBrady was able to jump above a slew of Maranacook defenders to head the ball into the net. Falmouth went into halftime with the 1-0 lead.
The Black Bears retaliated with 25 minutes remaining in the second half, when Alex Tooth was able to kick the ball, which was traveling in midair, past D’Agostino to tie the game a 1-1.
“They really manned up,” Maranacook head coach Don Beckwith said. “We had some young kids up there battling with big kids, and (Falmouth) has big kids, and they’re physical. But that’s kind of our trade.”
Falmouth put the pressure on for the rest of the half and the two overtimes, but Freeman came through for the Black Bears, stopping numerous scoring opportunities, including a jumping save made on a header during the second overtime. Freeman finished with seven saves.
“Once we scored, I thought we could get another one,” Beckwith said. “We had a couple of chances there, and when you get them, you’ve got to finish.”
Though the season ends for the Black Bears, Beckwith said this year’s team was one of the most team-oriented groups he’s had.
“We scored more goals than we’ve ever had, near 70, and we didn’t have anybody score over 11 goals,” Beckwith said. “A lot of heart, I think that’s the biggest thing. This team portrays me as good as any team has portrayed me as far as what I want.”
Dave Dyer — 621-5639
ddyer@centralmaine.com
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