BANGOR, Maine — Defending Eastern Maine Class A champion Lewiston wasted little time establishing its dominance in its 5-0 high school boys soccer victory over Bangor on Thursday night.
Lewiston, which starts nine seniors, scored just 57 seconds into the game and added another 6:23 later as it put on an impressive exhibition at the expense of the youthful Bangor team, which started five sophomores and two freshmen.
Coach Mike McGraw’s entertaining Blue Devils controlled all aspects of the game, using their speed and skills to keep possession of the ball and force the Rams to chase them.
Lewiston, 3-0, outshot Bangor 32-8. The Rams are 2-1.
Lewiston senior striker Maslah Hassan, who transferred back to Lewiston from Edward Little High School in Auburn, scored a pair of goals and assisted on another. Senior midfielder Abdulkarim Abdulle, senior midfielder Hassan Qeyle and junior midfielder Maulid Abdow had the other goals and senior goalkeeper Austin Wing finished with two saves.
Senior striker Abdi Shariff had a pair of assists, and Abdulle had one to go with his goal.
Bangor senior goalie Stanley Clarke finished with nine saves.
“We were ready. We came here to win, and that’s what we did,” said Abdulle.
“[The players] were really looking forward to coming up here and playing this game. It surprised me how hard our kids came out,” said McGraw, who feels this could be his best team in his 33 years at the helm.
Just 57 seconds into the game, the quick Blue Devils raced into the penalty area and Shariff passed to Hassan, who threaded a picture-perfect flick right onto the foot of Abdulle.
Abdulle never broke stride and drilled a low 14-yarder past Clarke.
“I was wide open so I took the shot,” said Abdulle.
Shariff set up Hassan’s goal at the 32:40 mark when he beat a defender at midfield and scampered down the left wing unmarked before slipping the ball across to Hassan, who volleyed a powerful shot into the far corner.
“I just aimed at a specific spot. I had to turn my hips. Coach tells us the way our hip faces is the way the ball goes,” said Hassan.
The Blue Devils harassed the Rams into numerous turnovers and one of those turnovers led to Hassan’s next goal with 13:24 left in the half.
Abdow dispossessed a Ram near midfield and fed the ball to the streaking Hassan, who broke in alone and pulled the ball around Clarke before depositing it into the empty net.
Qeyle opened the scoring just 3:12 into the second half when he sliced across the penalty area and one-touched an Abdulle pass across the grain into the far corner.
Abdow capped the scoring by volleying a pass into the open net off a pass from Hassan, whose initial shot was saved by Clarke.
“They simply outclassed us tonight,” said Bangor coach Billy Shannon. “We did not come prepared to play and they did. They were technical, athletic, organized, and they played together. We didn’t.”
“One thing I admire about Lewiston is they play every game like it’s their last,” said Bangor junior midfielder Carson Atherley. “Those first two goals were key. They propelled them and they kept rolling.”
JV: Lewiston 4-1