Boys' soccer: Maranacook tips Gray-NG in OT

READFIELD — Using your head to steer a soccer ball isn't much fun on the last Wednesday night in October, with overtime ticking away and the temperature dipping into the 30s. The mark from David Clough's last attempt left a red tattoo just above his eyebrows, one that looked like it could have been delivered by a well-struck baseball or a sucker punch.

Clough wasn't feeling any pain, though. By using his dome to drive home the remnants of a direct kick, Clough carried No. 3 Maranacook to a 2-1 victory over No. 6 Gray-New Gloucester in a Western Class B boys' quarterfinal at Ricky Gibson Memorial Field of Dreams.

Jon Findlay launched the free kick toward the Gray-New Gloucester cage from beyond 40 yards out. The ball looked like it had a chance to find the twine on its own, especially when Patriots goalkeeper Evan Kenney charged forward a few steps and couldn't get his mitts on it.

The 6-foot-4 Clough — himself a dangerous foot in any dead-ball situation — chased down the leftovers at the goalmouth and gave an insurance nod.

"I read it off the keeper. He was out too far. He'd been doing it all night long and made some nice fingertip saves," Clough said. "For a little guy, (Findlay) has a big foot. If I'm not taking the kick, he's the guy I want to see."

Maranacook (13-1-1) advanced to this weekend's semifinals against No. 2 Yarmouth.

G-NG freshman Jack Martell forced overtime by planting a penalty kick just past the reach of Maranacook goalie Sam Poulin with 23:25 remaining in regulation.

"He's taken a couple of those. He made one against York, and he hits them every day in practice," Gray-New Gloucester coach Mike Dehetre said of Martell. "But to put a freshman, 14 years old, in that situation where if he makes it the game is tied? I thought sure he was going to shank it or kick it right at him. So I was happy for him, and that seemed to give us a lift. We played more inspired soccer."

G-NG nearly notched the game-winner with 11 minutes remaining when the ball ricocheted off a Maranacook defender's foot and rattled the crossbar. 

That sequence came in the middle of a Patriots offensive flurry while one of Maranacook's top offensive threats, Dakota Duplissie, was briefly sidelined. Duplissie received a yellow card after a collision with Kenney.

"That was scary," said Poulin, who finished with seven saves. "I think it was just miscommunication. Somebody might have slipped on that play."

The Black Bears led 1-0 at halftime on the strength of another alert play surrounding the goal area.

Tyler DeAngelis appeared to pass the ball toward the left post. The ball eluded Kenney's attempt to smother it, and Gabe Giguere made the most of his glance at an empty cage.

Maranacook dominated second-half play prior to the penalty kick. DeAngelis, Findlay and Clough produced several perilous scrambles inside the 18-yard line with their strength and accuracy from long range.

It foreshadowed Findlay's pinpoint placement of the game-winner.

"Everybody made their runs. I just had to put it in the right spot," Findlay said. "I thought maybe I'd overstruck it a little bit."

G-NG, which started two freshmen and three sophomore, finished 8-6-1. That's double the Patriots' win total of 2008.

"Soccer's a funny game. Maranacook's (KVAC) conference and ours (WMC) are two different styles," said Dehetre. "If you win 12 games, I don't care what conference you play in. You're a good soccer team. They put a lot of pressure on your backs and play in a lot of long balls."

koakes@sunjournal.com