ORONO, Maine — The John Bapst High School girls soccer team from Bangor served notice Tuesday night that they are certainly capable of making it difficult for Hermon to claim a third consecutive Class B North championship this fall.
Speedy sophomore striker and Hampden Academy transfer Naia Studley scored early goals 1:58 apart and the Crusaders survived a second-half goal by Mya Lancaster to edge the Hawks 2-1 in a battle of unbeatens at the University of Maine’s New Balance Soccer Complex in Orono.
John Bapst improved to 4-0-1 while the Hawks fell to 5-1.
Hermon had outscored its previous five opponents 32-3.
“We wanted to start out fast and at least put pressure on their back line,” said John Bapst coach Greg Bennett whose junior daughter, midfielder Quinn Bennett, assisted on both goals.
‘“Our slow start cost us,” said Hermon coach M.J. Ball.
“It feels real good. This is the first time I’ve beaten them,” said Quinn Bennett, who set up the first goal with a beautiful through ball that sent Studley in alone on Hermon goalkeeper Rebecca Balmas.
“They weren’t really paying attention to me so I took advantage of it,” said Studley, who calmly angled her shot to the right of Balmas.
“We got caught flat-footed,” said Ball. “We knew Naia was very dangerous. One ball cannot beat our entire back four.”
The second goal came off a Rylie Soucy corner.
The ball pinballed in the Hermon penalty area and Bennett took a shot from the top of the 18-yard box that was blocked by a Hawk but deflected over to Studley, who slotted it home.
“I saw a wild open goal and I tapped it in,” said Studley, John Bapst’s leading scorer.
The Crusaders dominated all aspects of the game in the first half. They were quicker to the ball and outmuscled the youthful Hawks.
Balmas kept her team with two important saves later in the first half.
She held her ground and absorbed a turnaround shot by Studley in her midsection and then made a terrific reaction save off Bennett, whose shot from the middle of the penalty area hit a Hawk defender and changed directions.
The 6-foot-2 Balmas dropped down and reached across with her right arm to make the save.
Hermon goalkeeper Abby-May Turner didn’t have much to do for the first 30 minutes of the half but the Hawks did manage to create some opportunities late in the half.
Freshman striker Ava DiFrederico chased down a long pass down the right side and broke into the penalty area before firing wide of the near post.
Junior midfielder Payton Guerrette hit the crossbar twice within a two-minute span.
Her corner kick rattled off the bar and then she took a shot that hit a Bapst defender and glanced off the crossbar.
The Hawks played better in the second half and the game was more even.
Hermon’s Allison Stewart just missed cutting the lead in half with a header off a Guerrette cross.
With 24:41 left in the game, Bennett and Guerrette, each team’s most dominant and impactful midfielder, clashed heads. Bennett returned 12 minutes later but Guerrette never returned.
Lancaster scored with 18:03 left off a wild scramble.
The ball eventually rolled out to her and she put it into the open net.
The Hawks pressed for the equalizer but the Crusaders defended well and got some important clearances.
Turner finished with four saves on 14 Hermon shot attempts while Balmas made 10 stops on 22 Crusader attempts.
Ball felt his team panicked when it got behind because it wasn’t used to playing from behind.
“We didn’t test their goalkeeper,” said Ball. “You can’t expect to win games without multiple shots on frame.
“But I’m glad this happened now and not at the end of the year. Sometimes you learn more from your losses than you do from your wins and we will definitely learn from this and be better,” said Ball.