BANGOR, Maine — Bangor High School was clinging to a one-goal lead in a riveting girls soccer battle against defending Eastern Maine Class A champion Edward Little of Auburn and the Eddies were pressing for an equalizer.
But Katie Butler’s dramatic header off a pinpoint cross from Maddi Cormier with 5:07 remaining gave Bangor a much-needed insurance goal as the Rams triumphed 4-2.
EL, which lost six starters off last year’s team, fell to 1-2-1.
Senior striker Sarah Bragg had a pair of goals and an assist for Bangor (4-0) and Luci Clein had the game’s first goal. Grace Morris had two assists.
Standout senior midfielder Emily Jacques scored in the first half for the Eddies and Sarah Hammond converted a penalty kick in the second half.
A precise diagonal pass from omnipresent junior midfielder Morris to the speedy Cormier helped set up Butler’s goal. Cormier made a 20-yard run down the right flank before crossing it to the far post where the 6-foot Butler nodded it home from just three yards out.
“I saw Luci (Clein) and Katie behind her. I was hoping one of them would put it in,” said Cormier.
“Maddi always gives us great balls. She did all the work. I didn’t see anyone on that side so I went for it and worked out,” said Butler. “I knew we needed an insurance goal.”
The goal came just one minute after Jacques saw her 25-yard shot from the right sideline glance off the near post.
“That could have been a big-time game-changer (if it had gone in),” said EL coach Craig Latuscha.
First-half goals 8:36 apart by Clein and Bragg staked Bangor to a 2-0 lead before Jacques scored with 7:51 left in the half.
Bragg made it 3-1 just 1:02 into the second half but Hammond answered 3:02 later after Morgan Knowlton was hauled down in the penalty area.
Clein opened the scoring when she beat her defender and steered Bragg’s curling free kick past back-up goalie Francesca-Beth Haines, who was playing in place of Mariah Vaillancourt (retina surgery).
Bragg extended the lead when she was able to split two defenders to run onto a long header by Morris before beating Haines with a well-placed 14-yarder.
The alert Jacques got the Eddies back into it when a Bangor defender lost the ball following a Katie Ferrara cross. Jacques stole it and calmly struck a low, 16-yard shot past the right of diving Bangor goalie Emily Gilmore.
Bragg restored the two-goal cushion when she harassed an EL defender into a turnover before taking a touch and slotting a 15-yard shot into the corner to Haines’ left.
“The defender stumbled and I took advantage,” said Bragg.
Gilmore finished with three saves on 10 shots while Haines wound up with six on 15 shots.
“It’s always a battle with EL. They play hard throughout the whole game,” said Bangor coach Joe Johnson.
“We played real well. We played tough. EL is always full of energy and we matched that and went higher,” said Bragg.
“You know when you play Bangor, it’s going to be a battle. They’re a great team with a lot of great players,” said Latuscha, whose team lost to Bangor 4-2 last year. “My girls never gave up and worked hard. This game could have gone either way just like last year’s game.”
“It was a great game,” said Jacques. “We stood our ground. We played real well.”