Bonny Eagle 2

South Portland 0

The Bonny Eagle boys’ soccer team set a goal for itself heading into the last days of its regular season schedule. The players decided in order to better their playoff position, they needed to win their last three games. A 2-0 win over South Portland in Standish Saturday should help them in their cause.

“This is a start. We have three games left, and this is one of the three, and we need to win them all,” said junior midfielder Chris Smith, who scored the Scots’ second goal of the day.

Early on the Scots were getting the better of South Portland and got a number of scoring chances, with three shots on goal in the first 15 minutes of the game. Their best chance came a little more than 20 minutes into the game, when Tyler Ruby brought the ball in the box and spun around a defender. His shot was on target and forced South Portland goalkeeper Ryan Chapin to make a diving save.

Bonny Eagle had a few more near misses over the next several minutes, including a shot that banged off the post. With 4:11 to go in the first half, Chapin left the net to prevent a shot, but the ball slipped by him.

The shot was headed for the net when Alec Dacar of South Portland stopped it with his hand. The hand ball inside the box meant a red card for Dacar and a penalty kick for Robbie Harvey.

Harvey’s kick went over Chapin, ricocheting off the cross bar before dropping into the goal for a 1-0 Bonny Eagle lead, and Dacar’s red card forced the Red Riots to play short one player for the rest of the game.

“It’s unfortunate for South Portland to come up here and get a hand ball early in the game,” said Bonny Eagle coach Alan Curtis. “It changes how they play and their game plan, where people will play from that point on. For us, it gave us a penalty kick and allowed us to establish the pattern of play we wanted.”

With an one more player on the field, the Scots were able to dictate the tempo and style of play in the second half. The Riots got a few shots on goal in the second half, but Lincoln Sanborn was able to stop all of them.

Bonny Eagle tried to add to its lead for most of the second half, but was frustrated as Chapin broke up a good chance 10 minutes into the half. Midway through the half, a Scots shot off a corner kick hit the cross bar.

Finally, with 14:17 left in the second half, Harvey got the ball on net to Chapin. Chapin couldn’t corral the shot, and Smith knocked it into the net, giving Bonny Eagle its second point.

“The keeper dropped it, and I just picked up on it,” Smith said. “I was right there and just tapped it in.”

South Portland tried in vain to draw even with the Scots down the stretch. Bonny Eagle came up short on another pair of scoring opportunities, including a diving one-handed save by Chapin.

With the loss, South Portland dropped to 7-5 on the year, while the Scots improved to 7-5 with the win. The Scots were scheduled to finish up their regular season schedule this week against Thornton Academy and Massabesic. South Portland was scheduled to face Scarborough and Marshwood in their final two regular season contests.

Chris Smith scored a goal for Bonny Eagle on his birthday in Saturday’s win over South Portland.