CASTINE, Maine — How’s this for pressure?
The Ellsworth boys soccer program is so steeped in tradition that the 10 seniors on this year’s roster entered Wednesday night’s Eastern Maine Class B championship match with a chance to become just the second class of players from the school not to win at least one regional crown since 1976 — yes, 1976 — despite back-to-back trips to the final the last two years.
That pressure could have become even greater for the elder statesmen among top-ranked and undefeated Eagles through the first 40 minutes of play on the artificial turf at Maine Maritime Academy’s Ritchie Field.
For in a wacky Eastern B tournament that advanced seeds Nos. 10, 11 and 12 to the semifinals, 10th-seeded Oceanside of Rockland-Thomaston had put itself in position for one more upset by overcoming Ellsworth’s early control of play to take a 1-0 halftime lead.
Ultimately, Ellsworth’s big-game experience paid off, as goals by seniors Conor Maguire and Jack Weeks during the first five minutes of the second half rallied the Eagles to a 2-1 victory and their first EM championship since 2010.
“We’re usually a second-half team,” said Weeks. “There was a lot of motivation coming out for the second half tonight and it showed.”
Coach Brian Higgins’ club, 16-0-1, plays Yarmouth for the state title at 10 a.m. Saturday at Deering High School in Portland.
Oceanside, which knocked off three-time defending Eastern B champion Camden Hills of Rockport in the quarterfinals, finished 11-5-2.
“Ellsworth came out and did just what we thought they’d do,” said Oceanside coach Josh Mahar. “They’re tough down the middle of the field, and we just couldn’t get around them.
“We’ve been playing really well, but I just think we ran out of gas today.”
Ellsworth controlled play in the first half, outshooting the Mariners 13-4, but Stephen Goodridge’s goal on a rebound amid a scramble in front of the net with 9:21 left in the opening period gave Oceanside a sudden lead.
“I thought we were fortunate to be up 1-0,” said Mahar. “They controlled the run of play there and we were fortunate to get behind them on a throw-in and stick one in.”
That left undefeated Ellsworth in an unusual position — trailing at the break.
“We obviously were kind of scared,” said Maguire, “but we weren’t playing that well and we knew if we stepped it up we could pull ahead.”
Ellsworth wasted little time in taking the lead after intermission.
First, Maguire took a crossing pass from Weeks that had deflected off Oceanside goalie Coby Dorr and tucked the ball inside the right goal post to tie the match 1:38 into the second half.
“I just saw Jack trying to get it across on the wing, so I waited and it finally made it through, hit the goalie and hit my foot and bounced in,” said Maguire. “I really didn’t have time to react.”
Then Ellsworth reverted to one of the staples of its long-term success — the restart — to generate what turned out to be the winning goal, as Weeks scored off a header with 35:33 remaining.
Lukas Firestone made the initial throw-in from the right wing to Maguire, who skimmed a header behind him right to Weeks, whose own header slipped inside the near post to make it 2-1.
“We practice those restarts often, and there it was, right there,” said Higgins. “The throw-in, the flick and then Jack.”
Oceanside had a couple of late chances, particularly when Andrew King sent teammate Kaleb Robinson in ahead of the field with 20 minutes left, only to have Ellsworth senior back Jeff Weeks — Jack’s twin brother — chase him down and clear the ball away.
“Jeff saved us there,” said Maguire. “The defense saved us tonight.”
Ellsworth finished with a 20-7 advantage in shots, with Bruce St. Peter making three saves to preserve the shutout and Dorr making seven stops for Oceanside.
“We knew there had been a lot of upsets and we couldn’t let our guard down,” said Jack Weeks. “This has definitely been a long time coming.”
