Bonny Eagle’s Michele Rovaris and Ryan Moody combined Thursday to put the Scots atop the visiting Stags 2-0, a lead they held onto through the break and into the second half. But Cheverus wasn’t about to go quietly into defeat, and fought back in the later minutes, tying the score, sending the game into overtime – and nearly winning on a goal that wasn’t a goal, a successful shot nullified by an offsides violation.

So the game ended in a deadlock, a result that bumped the No. 10 Scots to 3-5-3 on the year and the No. 8 Stags to 5-3-2.

“Very evenly matched teams,” Bonny Eagle head coach Larry Robertson said, “and the systems are actually the same. We both play 3-5-2. I had seen them play, I went and scouted them. But I always try to fit the system to the players I have available, not players to a certain system.”

The Stags pressured early, but couldn’t capitalize, so when the Scots evened out the play and started creating chances of their own, Cheverus had no cushion to fall back on. Bonny Eagle struck first: Zack Gryskwicz’s direct kick from 70 yards out dropped neatly in the scramble out front of Stags keeper Jake Tomkinson, where it bounced around before squirting out to Rovaris on the right, who ripped the rebound and tallied the point. 1-0.

It was the first half’s lone score, though both sides generated additional opportunities. Brady Levesque put one on Scots keeper Zack Moody with three to play before the break, but Moody dove and deflected in spectacular fashion – just one of his 18 saves.

Tomkinson, who hashed 14 saves on the evening, looked impressive as well, though he lapsed again in the eighth minute of the second half when Bonny Eagle’s Ryan Moody escaped with the ball from midfield. The breakaway ended in an easy one-on-one with Tomkinson and another Scots point. 2-0.

“It took us a little while to get into the game,” Robertson said of the early going, “and then I think we had the better chances.”

Now the Stags were playing catchup. But 2-0 is a dangerous lead in soccer, as Robertson attested:

“2-0 is a very difficult score to have, because you kind of get complacent. We took for granted some things and stopped playing the game.”

Nine minutes later, Cheverus converted on the Curse of the 2-0 Advantage, Brady Levesque finally getting a ball past Zack Moody to bring the Stags within one. Less than two minutes after that, Zack Moody saved a Cheverus corner kick-header combo, only to watch helplessly as Andrei Vile’s rebound shot past. 2-2.

“They score one, and the momentum starts to shift,” Robertson said, elaborating on the dangers of a 2-0 surplus. “And if it happens quickly again, like they scored the second one, you’re back on your heels and you don’t have enough time to recover.”

The game lurched into overtime – where the Stags appeared, early on, to win. Ben Peterson fought out of the pack to earn a breakaway and a one-on-one with Zack Moody, and even beat Moody cleanly. The Cheverus bench emptied onto the field in celebration, but momentarily the officials doused the Stags’ fire, saying no goal, offsides.

“The whole entire season we’ve tried to preach: Have intensity, and play intense the entire time,” Robertson said. “When we were able to high-pressure the ball and win the ball back in the offensive third, we were able to move the ball around well.

“And when we didn’t have the ball, we defended very well as a unit. When we were winning, we were utilizing that.”

While Bonny Eagle had a few days’ rest to exult, Cheverus faced Portland on Saturday, battling to another stalemate, this one 0-0. Both teams played again Tuesday, Oct. 14, after Current’s print deadlines, the Scots visiting Massabesic and the Stags hosting Noble, and both teams play again on Thursday, when Bonny Eagle welcomes South Portland and Cheverus travels to Westbrook.

Bonny Eagle keeper Zack Moody cleats the ball away.Bonny Eagle’s Caio Ducatti (17), Brady Grass (13) and Denzel Crockett converge (11) on Cheverus’s Brady Levesque to protect their keeper, Zack Moody.The Scots’ Michele Rovaris attacks Cheverus’s Mackenzie Hoglund.Scot Ben Steeves and Stag Ethan Grove vie for control near midfield.Scots Ben Steeves and Brady Grass chase down Cheverus’s Andrei Vile.Ryan Moody takes a celebratory jaunt after scoring in Bonny Eagle’s 2-2 tie with the visiting Stags Thursday evening.