ELLSWORTH, Maine — This may not be one of the more dominant teams of Brian Higgins’ 42-year tenure as head coach of the Ellsworth High School boys soccer team.
The Eagles have yielded the first goal in a match several times this fall, and nearly two-thirds of their matches have been decided by one goal or less.
Yet they’re still winning — using exactly that formula as the top-ranked and defending regional champions fended off the challenge of No. 9 Foxcroft Academy 2-1 in a Class B North quarterfinal at Del Luce Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Senior Alex Braley’s header off a flip throw-in from classmate Lukas Firestone with eight seconds left in the first half provided the margin of victory.
“We’ve come back three or four times this year,” said Firestone. “We’re a different team from what we were last year but we’ve still had a very good record. We’ve just had to do things differently.”
Ellsworth (12-2-1) hosts No. 5 Waterville in Saturday’s semifinals, while Foxcroft ends one of its more successful seasons with an 11-4-1 record.
“I’m proud of the guys,” said Foxcroft coach Luis Ayala. “They gave it their all, they never gave up but sometimes it’s not meant to be.
“Ellsworth’s a good team. They’re physical, they’re aggressive and they get in your minds and frustrate you.”
Foxcroft did strike first on a penalty kick by Dylan Harmon-Weeks 13:12 into the match, but Ellsworth countered 2½ minutes later when Colby Clarke scored off an assist from Dagan Berenyi.
“The ball was going back and forth at the top of the box, and we just always click,” said Clarke. “The defenders were rushing back and I cut back and laid it in with my left foot.”
Ellsworth then turned to a staple of Higgins’ coaching tenure, the set play, to score the go-ahead goal with the final seconds winding down before intermission.
Firestone unleashed a flip throw-in from near the Foxcroft bench along the right sideline toward the far post, where Braley redirected it past Ponies’ goalie Logan Butera.
“I just try to be in the right position at the right time for the throw,” said Braley. “It’s been working all season, and hopefully it keeps working throughout (the playoffs).
Foxcroft was unable to get the the equalizer after the break, though senior Tobias Hogfeldt, a boarding student from Denmark, created a couple of significant chances despite being constantly shadowed by Ellsworth back Trent Mahon.
Ellsworth finished with a 16-9 shots advantage, with Butera making eight stops and St. Peter six.
“We played about average, and the reason for that was they were very aggressive, they marked us very well, and that’s the best I’ve seen them play against us in recent years,” said Higgins after his 565th career coaching victory.
“But we were able to get our throw-ins into the box and our corner kicks into the box, and that probably was the difference in the game.”
