BANGOR, Maine — Bangor Christian coach Aaron Wilcox admitted he wasn’t sure how his young team, with five freshman starters, would react to big-game pressure on Thursday afternoon.
The Patriots, with only two seniors and a former football player in goal, confronted an Ashland team that featured nine upperclassmen. Bangor Christian responded like a champion.
Freshman Tyler Welch scored the game’s only goal with 5:45 left, lifting the top-seeded Patriots to a 1-0 victory over the No. 3 Hornets at Husson University’s Boucher Field.
“I thought we’d make the playoffs, win some games, but I didn’t know we were going to win as many as we did,” said Welch, a crafty midfielder who picked an errant clear out of the air and fired a shot just inside the post to the right of Ashland goalkeeper Tim Tarr.
“Yes, we’re young, but we have a very solid, young team,” he added.
Bangor Christian (16-1) will seek a sixth straight Class D state title Saturday at 10 a.m. when it faces Western Maine champ Richmond (16-0) at Hampden Academy.
“What’s it going to be like when we get to the playoffs and we start getting the crowd and the media and the pressure of the games and trying to keep the winning tradition and all that stuff?” Wilcox said of his pregame thoughts.
“When you’re starting five freshmen, you just don’t know. I’m telling you what, they’ve responded,” he added.
Coach Mark Stanley’s Hornets (13-3-2) limited Bangor Christian’s offensive threats and manufactured only a handful of its own in a game dominated by the defenses.
“We were going to make it a battle in the midfield and hopefully sneak some chances,” Stanley said, “and as it turned out, I thought we had more quality chances. I’m proud of the boys to compete at that level.”
Bangor Christian attempted 15 shots to 13 for Ashland and put six on goal. Tarr finished with three saves for Ashland and senior sweeper Mark Chasse, who was a rock, blocked two shots.
Bangor Christian junior keeper Dennis Farnham, playing soccer this season for the first time since third grade, came up with four saves.
“He was very raw, but he was athletic so I knew there was an opportunity to work with him,” Wilcox said. “He really improved throughout the year.”
The Patriots were pressuring when Welch found some space just outside the 18. Ashland attempted a clear with a header, but the ball landed at the feet of Welch, who picked it out of the air at knee level.
“Tyler’s been amazing this season,” senior sweeper Seth Pearson said. “He’s a great player.”
Bangor Christian’s defense featured Pearson, freshman Dean Grass, junior Carl Jewell and sophomore Johnathan Cormier.
“I thought we did a really good job. We didn’t give them any clear shots,” Pearson said.
Ashland also turned in a stellar defensive effort, spearheaded by Chasse’s booming clears and the play of Aaron Sturgeon and Alex Lewin.
The Hornets’ top offensive threats were strikers Jarret Beaulier and Cody Blair.
Ashland threatened at 10:57 of the first half with less than 11 minutes left in the first half when Blair hammered a 30-yard free kick high off the post to Farnham’s left. He took another at almost the same spot 30 seconds later but his shot toward the left side was punched out by Farnham.
“I thought we had more quality chances than what BC had and couldn’t quite finish them,” Stanley said.
Early in the second half, Tarr made a nice save on a low, 25-yard shot by Bangor Christian’s Josh Viekman.
With the game tied 0-0, Ashland had a good opportunity at the 10:23 mark when Blair blistered a chest-high shot from 16 yards out that Farnham punched away.
“He kicked it right to me,” Farnham said. “It was a hard kick. I couldn’t catch it, but I stopped it.”