Portland downs SP to win “City Cup”

PORTLAND—Portland’s boys’ soccer team chose to emphasize the positive during this unique, abbreviated 2020 season and what could be more positive than winning your last game?

The Bulldogs got to walk off the Fitzpatrick Stadium turf victorious Thursday night after downing rival South Portland, a team that was much better than its record indicated, in the “City Cup” championship game.

Portland, which once again fielded a team featuring veteran stars and younger players who might soon be household names, got a crucial early save from sophomore goalkeeper Ben Littel, then went on top to stay in the sixth minute, when junior Steve Matanga finished, from Charlie Howe, a junior varsity player, who started the game.

Matanga, who wouldn’t be denied during his time on the pitch, then made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute, after being set up by senior Gracien Mukwa.

The Red Riots got back in the game in the 29th minute when sophomore Divin Mpinga scored, but the Bulldogs answered with 6:29 to go in the first half when senior standout Anselmo Tela found the net for the final time in his prolific high school career.

Senior Henry Flynn came on to play goalie in the second half and with the help of another unheralded defender, sophomore Oliver Hettenbach, helped slam the door as Portland closed out its 3-1 victory.

The Bulldogs ended their season with a superb 8-2 mark, proved to be the best Class A team in the city and in the process, ended South Portland’s campaign at 2-8.

“It wasn’t easy and the boys knew they had to work at it,” said longtime Portland coach Rocco Frenzilli, who now has 261 victories with the program. “South Portland pushed us and I was just happy for the boys. They get to walk off Fitzpatrick Stadium having won the last game of the season. That’s special.”

Just like last year

Portland and South Portland have seen plenty of each other this year, as Thursday’s contest was the third in four weeks between the teams.

The Bulldogs opened their season with a 4-2 loss to visiting Falmouth, the defending Class A champion, then blanked host Cheverus (3-0), hos South Portland (2-0) and visiting Deering, 1-0. After a 2-1 setback at Waynflete, the Bulldogs won at Deering (2-1), then defeated visiting Westbrook (3-2) and South Portland (3-0). In Tuesday’s City Cup semifinal, Portland held off visiting Cheverus, 2-1.

The Red Riots, meanwhile, dropped a 2-1 home decision to Deering in the opener, then after winning at Westbrook, 4-1, lost at home to Portland (2-0) and Scarborough (4-0), at Cheverus (1-0), at home to Cape Elizabeth (3-2), at Scarborough (3-0) and at Portland (3-0), but in Monday’s City Cup semifinal, South Portland upset host Deering, 2-1 (4-3 on penalty kicks).

Portland and South Portland met in the postseason last year as well, as the Bulldogs eliminated the Red Riots, 2-1, behind goals from Alex Millones and Tela.

While there is no traditional postseason tournament this fall, Portland and South Portland did get to square off in a meaningful game Thursday to wrap up the abbreviated season.

Entering play Thursday, over the past 15 years, Portland held a 15-6 edge, with one tie (see below, for recent results).

On a beautiful afternoon (63-degrees at kickoff, some 25 degrees warmer than the Bulldogs’ last game Tuesday), the Red Riots sought to beat Portland at Fitzpatrick Stadium for the first time since 2017, but instead, the Bulldogs made it four straight wins in the series and took home some bragging rights as a result.

The Red Riots came out sizzling, with nothing to lose, and were nearly rewarded two minutes in when junior Sam Kierstead set up classmate Cullen Adams for a great look, but Littel dove to make a tremendous save.

South Portland senior goalkeeper Paul Zechman then said, “Anything you can do, I can do better,” diving to rob Mukwa in the fourth minute.

Then, with 34:01 left in the first half, Matanga opened the scoring, taking a pass from Howe, eluding a defender, moving to his left, then striking the ball with his left foot and beating Zechman for a 1-0 lead.

The Red Riots hoped to answer, but junior Jack Houle’s free kick sailed high and Littel came out to beat Mpinga to junior Alberto Kissaka’s through ball.

Matanga’s second goal came with 18:06 remaining in the half, as Mukwa served the ball in and Matanga fought through a defender, then one-touched the ball into the goal for a 2-0 advantage.

“I’ve been working hard,” said Matanga, through his interpreter, senior Gabriel Panzo. “I knew I would score this game. I wanted to be the player of the tournament.”

“Steve played really well and Gracien controlled the middle,” Frenzilli said. “All in all, everyone did what they had to do.”

South Portland refused to roll over and after Mpinga missed just wide, he got the ball back after a deflection and beat Littel to cut the deficit in half with 11:26 on the first half clock.

Portland quickly countered, as after senior Josephat Kalombo weaved through the defense and just missed, Tela took a long pass from Panzo, stopped to shake a defender, then beat Zechman with a low shot to make the score 3-1, which is how it stood at intermission.

The Bulldogs had a 5-2 advantage in shots on frame in the first half and built a somewhat comfortable lead.

Each team changed goalies at the start of the second half, as Flynn entered for Portland, while sophomore Thomas Caouette entered the cage for the Red Riots.

Less than five minutes into the second half, after Kalombo induced a hand ball in the box, earning the Bulldogs a penalty kick, Kalombo buried his shot, but play wasn’t ready to start and he had to do it again. Kalombo’s second attempt then sailed high and the score stayed 3-1.

South Portland tried mightily to get back in it, but after junior Joey Perron missed wide and Kierstead’s shot off a long Houle serve was saved by Flynn, the Red Riots’ biggest frustration came with 25:30 remaining, as the ball was batted around and came out to Perron in the box and his blast appeared goal bound for certain, but Hettenbach was there to calmly sweep the ball off the line.

“Ollie has played really well the past two games,” Flynn said. “I didn’t know he had so much potential. He won’t be on JV for long.”

“That was a great shot and Oliver did a great job taking that off the line,” Frenzilli said.

After Kissaka missed just wide, Tela had a couple looks to clinch it, but his two shots were saved by Caouette.

Down the stretch, senior Noah Dreifus shot high on a free kick, Flynn kicked away a shot by Kierstead, Hettenbach broke up a Kissaka rush and Flynn dove to save a Kierstead header.

Portland ran out the clock from there and celebrated its 3-1 victory.

“It was a lot of fun to get on the field and leave with no regrets,” Flynn said. “We wish we could have had playoffs, but this year, we got to end with a win, not a loss, which was great. We all got on the field and had fun out there. It was fun for me to play with some of the JV kids, since I’ve had the same back four all year. I went into the game thinking I had to hold it down. I was out there with (senior back) Max (Cheever) and we played since freshman year together. We knew we could do it.

“I had a blast each and every year. Freshman year, we went to states. I was sitting on the bench, but it was a super-fun experience for me. Every year after that, we made playoff runs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t this year, but we won our last game.”

“I’m just so happy for the players,” Frenzilli said. “To watch them all get a chance to play as a unit and do the things they needed to do to get us a win was great. We’re glad we made the decision to (play everyone). Those younger kids played really, really well. It’s interesting to see kids at the end of the season. Normally when you call kids up for the postseason, they don’t play much.”

The Bulldogs had a 9-5 edge in shots on frame, a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks and got three saves from Flynn and one from Hettenbach.

South Portland got four saves from Caouette and two from Zechman, but couldn’t find a way to score frequently enough to keep up with Portland.

“We had some chances,” said Red Riots coach Bryan Hoy. “(Portland’s) a really good team. It’s the third time we’ve played them. They got us all three times, but I felt comfortable coming in that we had a chance because we were competitive with them. I think we did have a chance. We had a bunch of opportunities we couldn’t quite convert. My guys don’t give up. They play to the whistle and play hard and when they play hard with intensity, we’re a really good team. Sometimes we don’t get to that peak intensity level quickly enough.”

Reflections and a look ahead

South Portland graduates six, but will have plenty of firepower returning in 2021.

Look for the Red Riots to return to their winning ways and to be a force throughout.

“I’m happy my seniors got something this year,” Hoy said. “The spring guys didn’t get anything and it doesn’t sound good for winter, so the fact that we’re here in our uniforms playing against Portland in November is pretty awesome. My guys handled the adversity this year really well. No one on our team got sick. Whatever we did seemed to work.

“It looks really good going forward. We’re losing some key pieces, but we get 15 guys back who got experience this year, then we had a solid JV team and a very good freshmen team. We should be set for the next three, four years being really competitive.”

Portland’s giant roster will take a hit, but like South Portland, the Bulldogs will be well equipped to be a power again in 2021.

“The season was different, so we had to keep our heads up and we did,” Matanga said. “We hope next year will be different.”

“Every day was a great day,” added Frenzilli, who hinted he plans to return for yet another season in 2021. “I have to compliment (athletic director Lance Johnson), our administration, the players and our athletic trainers. Everyone did what they were supposed to. When it was time to get serious, we got serious. For the kids to have a 10-game season and to finish it off like this is awesome.

“I have 12 kids coming back and the younger kids will push for some spots as juniors. Our future is bright.