AUGUSTA — Brunswick found a rhythm to its attack in the final 12 minutes of Tuesday’s Class A North boys’ soccer regional final against Lewiston.
The Dragons scored five late goals in a 6-0 victory over the Blue Devils with Jack Banks scoring three goals as No. 3 Brunswick (13-3-1) advanced to Saturday’s Class A state championship against South champion Scarborough.
It’s the second straight state final appearance for the Dragons, who are seeking their first state title since 1999.
“It’s an amazing (feeling),” Banks said. “It’s important to win (the regional championship), but we have one more game to win. We aren’t done yet.”
Lewiston Coach Dan Gish said the Blue Devils tried to get their offense going in the second half.
“We added an extra attacker and it was working out,” Gish said. “We drew some corners and we got a PK opportunity. It was a little hesitation here and there and (Brunswick) opened it up. They got that second one. It’s a tough way (to lose). I thought we were in it for most of the game.”
No. 4 Lewiston (11-5-1) had won the only regular-season meeting between the teams, 3-2 on Oct. 4.
Brunswick had the first scoring opportunity of the game when Kaelin Gerwig’s shot brought Brunswick fans out of their seats, but it went wide of the net early in the contest. The Dragons defense made it difficult for the Blue Devils offense for the majority of the first half. Brunswick also blocked about five shots in the opening half. The Blue Devils did get four shots on goal, including back-to-back chances in the 12th minute against Dragons goalie Brady Laforge.
“Brady played fantastic, but I thought our whole defense (played fantastic),” Brunswick Coach Mark Roma said.
Banks scored the lone goal of the first half when he received a pass from Maxwell Hamilton inside the box and slid a shot past Lewiston keeper Payson Goyette in the 24th minute.
“I saw the ball bouncing and my dad taught me from a young age, ‘Always assume the mistake on the defenders,’ ” Banks said. “I went around the defender and the ball came to me and I slid it past the keeper.”
It was a wild final 12 minutes, starting when Lewiston received a penalty kick after Ibrahim was taken down in the box. David Abdi took the PK, which sailed over the crossbar.
Brunswick cleared the ball out of the defensive zone past all the Lewiston defenders. Brunswick’s Iain Clendening chipped the ball over Goyette (four saves). Nasip Abdi tracked it down for the Blue Devils, but he kicked it into the net on the clearing attempt for an own goal.
Banks scored on a free kick and a penalty kick to extend the lead to 4-0. David Nzuzi and Patterson capped the scoring.
“The score isn’t indicative of the match, Lewiston is a tremendous team,” Roma said. “The score line will say 6-nil, but they did what we would have done (in that situation). We would have done the same thing if we were chasing the game.”
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