WATERVILLE — Ellsworth threw — or more accurately, kicked — everything it could at Winslow, but the Eagles couldn’t solve the Black Raiders’ tough defense Saturday.
Andrew Poulin scored two goals and keeper Jason Reynolds made eight saves as second-seeded Winslow held off No. 3 Ellsworth 2-1 in a Class B North boys soccer semifinal game at Thomas College’s Smith Field.
The Raiders (15-0-1), who beat the Eagles 3-0 in last year’s B North final, will face the winner of Saturday’s game between top-seeded John Bapst and No. 4 Mount Desert Island on Wednesday for the conference title.
Ellsworth put the pressure on Winslow from the opening kick, but had a tough time getting the ball past Reynolds, who despite missing part of the season with an injury, wasn’t afraid to leave the net for loose balls and corner kicks Saturday. Reynolds was aided by a tough defense led by Lucas Boucher, who booted away anything in his path, with support from backfield mates Tyler Nadeau and Braden Laramee.
“Our defense really, really stepped up today,” Poulin said. “Having Jason back in net is huge. I’m really, really proud of the boys and how they defended Ellsworth. That’s a really good team we just beat.”
Down 2-0 in the second half, Ellsworth finally broke through when Kyle Kenny converted Kal Laslie’s corner kick with 12:29 left, and the Eagles smelled blood as the clock ticked down. Silas Montigny’s header went just over the net, Winslow defenders Laramee and Cooper Blackley swept away loose balls and Reynolds made the final statement when he stopped Ellsworth’s desperation line drive from the left of the goal as the clock reached zero.
“After the second goal, we definitely started to play a little more defensive, and that allowed them to score on that corner,” Winslow coach Aaron Wolfe said. “We were in defense mode, running out the clock. But I think the boys worked really hard. Ellsworth is a very good team and dangerous in their set pieces, so we knew that every time there was a restart or the ball was out, they were going to be dangerous to score goals.”
Winslow’s Jacob Owen (10) makes a slide tackle on Ellsworth’s Luke Perry during a Class B North semifinal game Saturday at Thomas College in Waterville. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
Although Ellsworth applied the pressure, the Eagles left their end of the field vulnerable to Winslow’s long balls, and the Raiders took advantage. Midway through the first half, the Raiders’ Joey Richards kicked a long pass over the middle to Poulin, who wormed past two defenders and struck the ball to the left of Eagles keeper Cooper Mitchell (two saves) and into the net with 22:52 left.
The Richards-to-Poulin combo clicked again with 20:19 left in the game, with a near clone of the first goal. Poulin took Richards’ long kick, beat out a defender and booted the ball past Mitchell.
“We were working on getting runs off the ball instead of stringing together six or seven passes, because they’re a real good defensive team,” Wolfe said. “A couple of strikes on the long counter worked out.”
Winslow has outscored its opponents 89-8 this season.
Ellsworth had nine corner kicks while Winslow had zero.
“I thought we played well,” Ellsworth coach Mark Ensworth said. “Winslow took advantage of their opportunities, and we didn’t take advantage of enough of ours. I thought we controlled the pace of play pretty well, but — that’s soccer.”
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