BANGOR, Maine — One big difference between regular-season play and postseason contests in any sport is the fear of the finality, the win-or-go-home reality of every contest no matter the potential David vs. Goliath look of a given matchup.
It wasn’t a fear expressed by anyone on the unbeaten Bangor High School boys soccer team Tuesday night, as the top-ranked defending state champions methodically worked their way past No. 8 Cony of Augusta 4-0 in a Class A North quarterfinal.
The win extended an impressive streak for coach Garth Berenyi’s club, now 29-0-1 in its last 30 countable matches since early in the 2016 season.
Bangor also finds itself nationally ranked, the No. 24 team in this week’s USA Today/United Soccer Coaches Super 25 poll.
“I thought we played a good game tonight,” said Berenyi. “I thought we’ve played very well the last several games, which is what we want. When the playoffs are coming you want to keep playing better and better, and this was a good game for us overall.”
Bangor (14-0-1) advances to Saturday’s semifinals when it will host No. 5 Mt. Blue of Farmington, which defeated No. 4 Mt. Ararat of Topsham 2-1 in double overtime Tuesday. Bangor beat Mt. Blue (9-4-2) 4-2 in their lone regular-season meeting on Oct. 3.
Cony ends its season at 4-7-4.
Senior striker Garth Berenyi, son of the coach, scored twice to pace Bangor’s offense while sophomore midfielder Damian Sheffer and junior defender Jack Bourassa added one goal each as the Rams extended their season-long scoring margin over their opponents to 60-10.
Sophomores Austin Conway and Jacob Munroe each played a half in goal, with Conway recording the Rams’ lone save as Bangor outshot Cony 26-3.
“I just think the guys are getting more comfortable playing with one another,” said coach Berenyi.
Bangor won handily despite being without another of coach Berenyi’s sons, senior midfielder Jacob Berenyi, sidelined since the end of the regular season with a hip flexor injury and instead serving as the team’s scorekeeper.
“I think the guys coming in off the bench are playing exceptionally well,” coach Berenyi said. “We don’t see much of a drop-off when different guys are playing and it gives us more flexibility as everyone understands how we play.”
Cony entered the quarterfinal with an 0-5-2 record in its last seven matches, including a 3-1 loss to Bangor at Augusta on Oct. 10.
But Cony came out aggressively in this rematch of the Rams and with rangy Nick Robinson active in goal remained competitive for much of the match.
“Honestly, they played us much tighter tonight than when we played them a couple of weeks ago,” said coach Berenyi. “They were organized, they were disciplined. They had a game plan, but I think they were just outmatched.”
Bangor took a 1-0 lead with 16:45 left in the opening half when Sheffer tracked down the rebound of a shot blocked by Robinson and scored from the middle of the crease.
Berenyi converted on a penalty kick three minutes later to make it 2-0, an advantage Bangor carried into intermission.
Berenyi scored again with 16:25 left in the match, gathering an accurate lead pass from junior midfielder Roland Mattsen just to the left of the goal and beating Robinson with a sharp-angled shot back across the goalmouth and inside the right post.
Bourassa scored the game’s final goal on a direct kick from deep along the left wing with 6:08 remaining.
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