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PORTLAND—A year ago, Deering’s boys’ soccer team saved its best for last.
Surging in the playoffs to a first-ever regional title.
Saturday morning at Memorial Field, the sixth-seeded Rams didn’t exactly put on a show in a Class A South preliminary round contest against No. 11 Marshwood, but with its season hanging in the balance, found a way to survive and advance.
Neither team managed a shot on frame in the first half, but in the second half, Deering junior goalkeeper Jack Borland and Hawks junior keeper Carter Shaw both came up huge in critical situations and the game remained scoreless through 80 minutes.
As a result, overtime was needed and the Rams, who had to play extra time in three of last year’s postseason tilts, finally put it together and just 2 minutes, 9 seconds in, sophomore Samuel Almeida played the hero, firing a shot that deflected off the post and in to produce a 1-0 victory.
Deering won its fourth straight regional tournament game, improved to 8-6-1, ended Marshwood’s season at 5-9-1 and in the process, advanced to take on red-hot No. 3 Scarborough (12-1-1) Tuesday at 7 p.m., in the quarterfinals in Scarborough.
“The energy just wasn’t there for us and that’s something the guys have to own,” said Rams coach Joel Costigan. “Practice was good, but sometimes that doesn’t translate to the game. We had to remind them that the season was on the line and sometimes, you get a little luck.”
Rediscovering the magic
A year ago, Deering saved its best for last, won three regional tournament games in memorable fashion, then dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Lewiston in a thrilling Class A state final.
This fall, however, the Rams couldn’t get over the hump against top squads and ended up needing to play in the preliminary round.
The Hawks, meanwhile, were 5-3 at one juncture but didn’t win again, going 0-5-1 in their final six contests.
In the teams’ regular season meeting, Oct. 9 in South Berwick, Deering got two goals from senior Augusto Daniel and another from senior Alberto Lucas-Bayata to eke out a 3-2 victory (seniors Jack Anderson and Quinn Maguire scored for Marshwood).
The Hawks and Rams had never before met in the playoffs.
Saturday, on a sunny but chilly (53 degrees at kickoff) afternoon, Deering did just enough to march on.
With the early (10 a.m.) start, it wasn’t a big surprise that the first half was flat, but the fact that there were no great opportunities was a shock.
Marshwood had two corner kicks to the Rams’ one.
Senior Tony Piazza twice shot high for the Hawks.
Senior Peter Sargent sent a late shot wide for Deering.
Action picked up in the second half, where both goalkeepers came up huge.
Less than two minutes in, the Rams produced their first good chance, but sophomore Alberto Casteliano was broken up in the box by Hawks senior back Josh Sawyer.
Shaw then came out to break up a feed from Casteliano to Daniel.
With 31:16 to go in regulation, sophomore Lucio Quibinda had a good look blocked in the box.
A minute later, Daniel nearly put Deering in front with a powerful blast, but Shaw managed to tip the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick, which didn’t result in a shot.
With 23:59 to play, Sargent set up junior Ibrahim Abdullahi for a blast, but Shaw saved that one as well.
Marshwood then looked to strike, but a long shot from junior Rogan Boisvert was saved by Borland, Borland had to leap to catch a deflection off a corner kick, Boyer shot high and junior Brevan Lavin missed wide.
After Shaw denied junior Cristiano Afonso with 11:27 to go, the Hawks nearly broke through with 7:24 on the clock, but a promising low shot from Anderson was denied by a diving Borland.
The visitors would have two more great opportunities before the end of regulation, as with 2:35 remaining, an Anderson header off a Boisvert free kick was saved by Borland, Borland punched away the ensuing corner kick and 49 seconds later, Boisvert set up Boyer for a great look in the box, but one-on-one, Borland stopped him cold.
“Most of those shots were close range and I just had to go with my gut,” said Borland, the Rams’ backup keeper a year ago. “It’s just reaction. Whatever works. It was pretty nerve-wracking. It was my first time in goal in the playoffs.”
“We’re very fortunate that our goalkeeper played such a great game,” Costigan said. “Jack came up huge for us today.”
Late in regulation, Daniel missed just high for Deering in transition, then a floater from Almeida with just seconds left, was saved by Shaw, sending the contest to overtime.
While teams play two five-minute, “sudden victory” OTs in the regular season, in the playoffs, they can play up to two 15-minute periods and if no one scores, the game is decided by penalty kicks.
That wouldn’t be necessary, however, as the Rams decided they’d had enough and would need just over two minutes to finally bring an end to the festivities.
Deering was able to apply pressure and off a failed clear, the ball came up top to Almeida, who lined up a shot and beat Shaw to his left, but the only question was would the goal frame be cruel or kind.
The answer was kind, as the ball ricocheted off the inside of the right post and into the net and at 11:39 a.m., the Rams were able, at last, to celebrate their 1-0 victory.
“The ball came over to me and I just shot it,” said Almeida, through Casteliano, who served as his interpreter. “It felt very good. I was very excited. It was all about our teamwork. We’re not a team, we’re a family. It was great to have that celebration with the crowd.”
“It was a relief when we scored,” Borland said. “It was a battle. It would have been rough if we lost, but we put up a good fight. It felt good to win this one because I got hurt against them the first time.”
“We emphasized keeping the ball down,” Costigan added. “We had some shots that were wide or at the goalie in the air with no chance for a rebound. Going into overtime, we did talk about when we finish, we have to finish on the ground and keep the ball low. Marshwood had a great game plan and executed well. They played an excellent game and by all accounts, could have won several times if not for Jack making some great plays.”
Final shots wound up 5-5. Borland made five saves for the Rams and Shaw stopped four shots for the Hawks.
Marshwood had a 5-2 edge in corner kicks.
A tall order
Deering lost at home to Scarborough on Oct. 12, 2-0.
The Rams are 0-5 all-time versus the Red Storm in the playoffs, with a 3-1 setback in the 2014 Western A semifinals the most recent, but the Rams will go in with nothing to lose.
“They beat us the first time and now, we need our revenge,” said Almeida, through Casteliano.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Borland said. “We only have a few days of rest. I was hurt last time we played them, so I’m looking forward to playing them. I think we can make another run. We have a really good team. We just have to put it together.”
“We want them,” added Costigan. “We weren’t full strength last time. Hopefully we can motivate the guys to step up to the challenge. Scarborough’s well coached and very disciplined.”
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