Bangor blanks Erskine

BANGOR, Maine — Erskine Academy of South China brought a scrappy, defensive-minded brand of soccer to its Eastern Maine Class A semifinal at top-ranked and undefeated Bangor on Saturday.

But Bangor had the complementary finesse to go with its own physical play, using second-half goals by Luke Hetterman, Phil Frost and Nick George to pull away to a 3-0 victory.

The victory matches the 16-0 Rams against Brunswick in the Eastern Maine final for the third time in the last four years — with Bangor winning the previous matchups in 2006 and 2008. No. 2 Brunswick (14-1-1) edged No. 3 Hampden Academy 1-0 in its semifinal.

Bangor also edged Brunswick on penalty kicks in last Friday’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference Class A championship match.

“We played them in the KVACs and they were a really strong team,” said Bangor senior midfielder Cody Cormier, whose two assists helped Bangor get past Erskine. “We held our own, we really didn’t play our soccer, but we’re excited to play them again.”

No. 5 Erskine ends its season at 9-3-4.

While unable to generate much offensively, Erskine was able to hang with the favored Rams for much of the match until Hetterman scored on a one-timer with 32: 59 left in the second half.

The play began with a free kick by Cormier from 20 yards out that was crossed toward the goal crease. Hetterman, a junior forward, made a run toward the goal and redirected Cormier’s pass past Erskine goalie Brian Potter for his eighth goal of the season.

“We got the free kick on the right side, and I saw Cody looking up to where he was thinking about putting it,” said Hetterman. “None of their players was in the front, so I ran there and that’s where the ball was going. I just tried to get a touch on it and it went in.”

Frost made it 2-0 with 19:59 left after some brilliant legwork by Cormier.

The University of New Hampshire-bound Cormier gained control of the ball some 40 yards from the goal, then danced his way past several defenders — jumping over attempts to take the ball away while still advancing down field with possession.

Finally as Cormier neared the goal, he grounded a short cross that Frost sent across the goal line from close range.

“I saw one guy so I just tapped it and jumped over his legs,” said Cormier. “I think I beat three guys like that and got it down in the box and looked across and Phil was making a run right through.”

“You just have to push through. Even if they get a touch on it you, you’ve got to push through and get the ball back, and I guess it happened that way.”

George added his team-leading 16th goal of the fall off a direct kick with 12:02 to play, as he rifled a 25-yard shot from the left side past Erskine’s defensive wall and just inside the right goal post.

Bangor finished with a 13-1 shots advantage. Rams’ goalie Bud Angst was not required to make a save as Bangor earned its 15th shutout of the season, while Potter and Zach Busmanis combined for seven stops for Erskine.